by Justin Morton
Have you ever been fishing? My first experience with fishing was in the pond behind our house; a pond I knew very well. Not only was it just 50 yards from my back door, but over the years I had lost several baseballs in that pond. Despite that familiarity, I had never spent much time fishing. Then one day, all that changed. My uncle came to visit and decided to teach me the finer points of the sport. He spent time teaching me about the various baits, the technique of casting the line into the water, and the actions to take once you hooked a big one. Within minutes, I had caught my first fish, a bass.
As thrilling as it was to catch that fish, what stands out most in my memory is the fish’s struggle for survival. The fish fought and desperately wanted to return to the water, it’s essential source of life. Once a fish is out of water, it is unable to survive for very long.
Sometimes I feel as though Christians have a lot more in common with fish than we realize. Like fish, we sometimes allow ourselves to be drawn away from our source of life into a world that threatens our spiritual well-being. James writes, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
As Christians, we often find ourselves like fish out of water. We allow ourselves to be enticed by the bait the world dangles before us, leading us away from obedience and faithfulness to God. In doing so, we give our friendship and loyalty to the world, making ourselves adversaries of God. Like fish, we take the bait and are drawn into a world that not only threatens our well-being, but our eternal survival as well. God does not want His people to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:1-2).
Although the bait may look appealing to the fish, it is merely a deception. By the time the fish realizes its mistake, it is already gasping for air and struggling to survive. Let us remain vigilant so we do not take the bait and become like fish out of water.