Thoughtful Thursday

Get the Net

My husband is a pretty good fisherman. He has studied the craft, and has tried to teach me a thing or two. I’ve been fishing with him often, and have seen him effortlessly haul in various sizes and species of fish out of the water, and into our boat. Every now and then, though, he hooks into a big one. I may be fishing at the back of the boat, or reading a book, or soaking up the sun, when I hear him exclaim, “Get the net! Get the net!” Then it becomes a team effort, and quite a bit of excitement ensues. While he is struggling to reel in his prize catch, I run and grab the net, rush to his side, and as soon as the fish tops the water, we scoop down with the net, ensuring that the fish doesn’t do a deep dive and break the line or get away. When we finally lift the fish into the boat, we both look at each other with a sense of pride, before taking the picture, and throwing him back.

That’s always quite the adventure, but I recently experienced this same scenario with a five year old. Life is so special when you see it through the eyes of a child. Every time this little guy would cast, he yelled excitedly, “I got one! I got one!” The first few times, he didn’t catch anything. Maybe he had a bite, but the fish stole his bait, or maybe his line just went over a limb, but came up empty. Then, finally, he he really did have one! He caught a couple of blue gill, and we were all so happy for him. However, a few moments later, we heard him yell, “I got one! I got one! It’s a big one!” I could see that his fishing rod was  bent w-a-a-y down toward the water. “He must have a big one,” I said. Everyone on the boat became involved. His dad rushed over to help him reel it in. His sister jumped up to watch. My husband stopped talking on the phone, and ran over to look, as well. Somebody, somewhere, was yelling, “Get the net! Get the net!” I jumped up to get the net. The little boy was jumping up and down, squealing with excitement! We all leaned over that side of the boat, and watched as the fish came to the top of the water, avoiding the net, before diving back down out of sight. Then, he rose to the top again, as he was being reeled frantically in that direction. Finally, we were able to get the net underneath him, and haul him into the boat. He was a good sized catfish, that had put up quite a fight! Everyone was so happy and excited! We couldn’t stop talking about it all the way home.

This made me think.  Whether we are five or fifty, we all need a little help now and then. We may be struggling with a problem that just keeps hanging around, and fighting us on every hand, just like that old catfish. We may need someone to, “Get the net,” to help us in the fight. We may be working toward something that we want to accomplish, but we just can’t make it on our own. Again, we may need someone to, “Get the net,” to help us reach our goal.

I am reminded of a passage from my favorite book in the Bible. 

James 5:19-20:  My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way, will save them from death, and cover over a multitude of sins.

Do you know someone who is struggling today? Do you know someone who could use a little help along their way?

Get the net.