When it comes to fishing I get an A for effort and usually a D for achievement. I might not be the best out there, but that doesn’t stop me spending countless hours casting a lure any opportunity I get. I love beach fishing most of all (which poses certain problems living in Parkes) and for the last three years my family has spent our Easter holidays camping at the beach to catch up on 12 months worth of my favourite pastime!
Whilst I love fishing in the surf for whiting and bream, this year I decided to take my fishing to the next level and rig up my drone to drop a big bait 2-300 metres offshore to try and catch a big salmon, shark or something equally as awesome. The concept of dropping a bait using a drone is relatively simple, especially given my fishing attachment consisted of two paper clips and some gaffer tape. However I soon discovered that there were a few other complexities involved that I hadn’t anticipated; currents and wind to name a few. So whilst I did manage to get a bait out beyond the breakers, there was no guarantee it would stay where I wanted it or come back with a fish on the end.
Over the next three days of fishing my frustrations only grew. The YouTube clips I pictured in my head of reeling in a huge shark seemed like a distant dream as I negotiated all the challenges that drone fishing presents. On the one occasion I did manage to hook a decent fish, it was so far away that it swam hundreds of metres behind a headland and snapped my line on the rocks! Not impressed…. all the while my three little boys where playing in the sand, splashing in shallows and continually asking if they could catch a fish in close like we used to.
It was a pretty surreal moment as I realised that I had over complicated myself out of the simple pleasure of catching a little fish with my boys. So the drone got packed away, and the kids’ rods came out. We caught some pippies together as bait, and were catching beautiful fish in close within 10 minutes; much to the delight of three little boys.
It was a timely reminder for me that just like we can over complicate the simple things in life, we have a pretty good tendency to over complicate the Gospel if we are not careful. Try as we might, a perfect and full understanding of God is something we will never attain. And whilst we should always strive to understand and know our God more, that should never stop us from seeing the beautiful simplicity of the Gospel lived out in our daily lives. Above all else, we’re called to love God and love people, it’s that simple.
This week, my challenge to each of us is to not over complicate this thing called Christianity, and miss moments to show our love for God but rather, get out there and make someone a cup of tea, share an encouraging word, pay for someone’s Maccas or better still, take someone fishing!
Have a great week everyone.
Glen