We recently took a vacation in Missouri with my daughter/son-in-law and my parents. The part of Missouri that we visited was in the Ozark Mountains at Roaring River State Park.
mostateparks.com/park/roaring-river-state-park
My family stayed in a log cabin and we trout fished, barbecued, made S’mores over a campfire, and just basically had some good family time.
The highlight of the trip was the trout fishing which started in the morning and went all day; finishing in the evening with a siren which meant you needed to quit fishing and make it to the cleaning station to take care of your fish.
We had to purchase a fishing license and a daily permit which only allowed us to keep four trout a day which were primarily Rainbow Trout.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_trout
Anyway the water was crystal clear and you could often see the fish that you were catching before you even got them to the bank. Some used real bait while others used an artificial bait such as a “Power Bait” which simulated salmon eggs with various colors/scents or artificial lures such as dry flies and spinners, etc.
When utilizing man-made materials the concept was to trick the fish into thinking they were getting something real, as naturally occurring, which corresponded with the spawning season as many of the trout we cleaned had egg sacks or perhaps something that mimicked the insects in the area. Furthermore, the secret was to use a very light test fishing line with a 907 gram fluorocarbon leader along with a very small hook (No.8-12), for concealment, which is undetectable to the fish as they have a very keen sense of sight.
One way to fish was to place a lead weight, such as a split-shot, about .3 to .6 meters above the bait and throw the rig upstream allowing it to naturally drift down with the current. The eggs and dry flies are designed to float so as to give it a very attractive and appealing approach to the fish which are competing for food in the river.
We happened to be fishing downstream of a hatchery so there was plenty of fish you just had to make the right presentation to catch them.
Of course, I like to use analogies when living life as to correlate activities to that of a spiritual reality or truth. In this instance, I see that our culture often presents us with a worldview(s) which we often find alluring for various reasons. What usually gets our attention is something which we as humans often find attractive; of which we innately hunger for in respect to sustenance, beyond that of local cuisine, as something that is properly basic to the human psyche as to give ultimate purpose and meaning to life as to discover “Who am I” and “Why am I here” as attaining such universal values as love, joy, and peace.
I think that many times we find ourselves taking the bait (a.k.a. hook, line, and sinker) when we find something that at first glance may seem to satisfy these primal instincts as becoming hooked, not realizing that such superficiality can result in being reeled in as caught off-guard only to be exploited by the Catcher who steals, kills, and destroys, John 10:10.
The bible portrays such a character as Satan who is the personification of evil as an adversary and deceiver of humanity who presents an array of various tackle in the form of false religion and philosophy as to satiate the cravings of our sinful soul to capture us in deceit as enticing us, without revealing to us its artificiality, in presenting it as authentically true or as half-truths e.g., Adam and Eve in Eden and Jesus in the Wilderness.
Antithetically Jesus enlisted some fisherman whom he called ‘Fishers of Men’ who had kind of a catch and release method as relocating the fish, unharmed, from such dangerous waters to inhabit streams of living water, John 7:37-39 and John 10:10.
The final question isn’t whether or not we will be caught but rather who or what has caught us. I have written more articles about this very subject at
jesusandjews.com/wordpress/category/seekers/
Atheist and Agnostic Resources
English Articles on Atheism and Agnosticism
Photo provided by:
“tab62/Shutterstock.com”
Praise the Lord!!!
Amen!!!