God Gone Fishing

Most of you know that my favorite hobby is fishing. I have found no other hobby that both relaxes and satisfies me as much as fishing. I find it interesting and satisfying that Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen. But have you ever thought about God Himself going fishing?

Jesus tells a parable about God Gone Fishing, and it is a very real and sobering fishing trip.

Matthew 13:47-48 (NLT)

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. 48  When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away.

The goal of God’s fishing trip is to catch fish of every kind. When the net is full and all fish have been hooked or netted, the net is dragged to shore for evaluation and judgment. Good fish are going into crates (the Kingdom of Heaven), and the bad fish are going to be thrown away (hell).

Jesus’ parable makes it clear that there is good and evil on the earth. There will be winners and losers at the end of this God Gone Fishing Trip. God uses the angels to do the final sorting, but the fish cleaning had already taken place by the Son Himself.

Matthew 13:49-52 (NLT)

49  That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, 50  throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus’ words (168 words in the NLT Bible Translation) in that simple parable reveal the truth of God for all mankind. There is good and evil on the earth. There will be winners and losers on the earth. And the world as we know it is coming to an end. This God Gone Fishing Trip has an ending date, when the final net will be cast.

Then Jesus asks a simple question that has applications for all generations.

Matthew 13:51 (NLT)

Do you understand all these things?” “Yes,” they said, “we do.”

The good fish represent the Kingdom of Heaven, those who have been caught by Jesus before the final net is cast upon the earth. The bad fish are those who have avoided the God Gone Fishing event. They thought they would be saved by avoiding God, but the final net was too wide and too deep for them.

The truth is this…anyone who truly understands this parable of Jesus would run to Jesus and ask Him to catch you and clean you before that final net is cast.

Maranatha, Hosanna, Hallelujah and Amen,

Terry Cooper

Lead Minister