Fish never ceased to amaze me when I was a fisherman. Some days they would jump in the boat, grab my baited hook and stick it hungrily into their mouth (that might be a tiny bit exaggerated).
Other days you could offer them a fishly banquet and they would smugly swim by, nose in the air with never even a nibble at your wonderful offering.
There can be a lot more to it, but sometimes it seems that it’s just a matter of discovering what they’re biting on that day. If you don’t change baits sometimes, the fish won’t be hungry—but you will be!
I wonder if Christians aren’t the same. We spend the biggest part of our time fishing for broken, hurting people. It’s true that often they’re “biting.” They finally found that they were spending their life for something that was a lie and they’re open to Someone who can heal them.
“Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Bound in affliction and irons—
Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down, and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in pieces. (Psalms 107:10-14 NKJV)
But, these aren’t the only ones who will come to God. Change your bait occasionally and cast it out for those who are hungry for God. Life is okay for them but something deep inside hungers for more.
“Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling place. (Ps. 107:5-7)
Others come to God when they consider His creation and know that something that incredible wasn’t an incredible stroke of luck—as if we’d won a cosmic lottery.
Andrew Flew was one of the most renowned atheists of the twentieth century but at the end of his life he came to a belief in the existence of God. Scientific discoveries impacted his intelligence. His philosophy was that you must follow the evidence where it leads and for him, it led right to God.
(I don’t know if he ever came to a complete knowledge of the Lord Jesus before his death, though).
When you talk to someone about the Lord, consider the person you’re talking to. If you’re speaking to a man that’s fairly happy with life, he might be impressed with the story of the conversion of a drug addict but he probably won’t see what that has to do with his life.
But, God speaks to everyone in every situation. Ask God what “bait” will help you to bring the person to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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