April 29-30 – Don't take the bait

“Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds--like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea” - Ezekiel 47:10

“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him” - Matthew 4:18-20

A true story....A group of men had just finalised their plans for their annual fishing trip to Ireland. To say they are close, is an undestatement. Mates from primary school days, they spend all of their spare time hanging out. Sadly, two weeks before they were due to pack and go, one of them, Jimbo, died unexpectedly. Undetered the pals decided to go ahead with their plans and take Jimbo in his urn with them. The idea was to fulfil Jimbo's wish to be scattered in an Irish river when he died – they could do that and 'be together' for one last time, and they knew how much Jimbo would have hated to miss out on the trip, had he known.

On the day, off they went with a change of clothes in their backpacks, and Jimbo as a special honour, in with the fishing tackle and bait. The following morning, at the crack of dawn, they carefully placed Jimbo in his urn on the river bank, took up their positions, and serious fishing got underway. Jimbo was always the life and soul of these trips, and the boys were really missing his banter and boasts as he caught fish after fish....and they caught nothing.

Towards the end of the second day the bait was running low, and they hadn't even caught a tiddler! Give them their due, they'd tried every trick in the book, including 'plumping up' the live bait under their tongues so they would appear rich and juicy to any browsing fish.

Jimbo never had this trouble. As one, they looked at Jimbo's urn sitting on the river bank. Yes, brilliant, use Jimbo as bait. He'd like that! He'd have his wish of his ashes being scattered in the river, but this way he'd be taking an active part as usual, in the fishing trip.

Was Jimbo as bait successful? I don't know. But if he was, I'm just positive there's no way I could have ate that catch!

Jimbo had no choice, but how many times have we, by choice, gone along with our mates for the ride, only to find ourselves being used as bait? We can't say we haven't been warned -

“Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour” - 1 Peter 5:8

Today's music is Bryn's choice - “Been there, Done that! LIVE. Click on the picture to listen.