I recently had an opportunity to do a little fishing.  I began with my fly rod.  Of course every fisherman knows the sensation of being filled with anticipation at the first cast.  But this time, nothing happened.  I changed my aim and dropped my fly in another spot.  Still nothing.

This continued for a while until I was convinced that I needed to switch to spinner baits; you know, the shiny little metal lures you cast way out and then quickly retrieve.  Again with the first few casts I was alive with hope, awaiting that electrifying tug on the end of the line that meant a fish was biting.  To no avail.  Again, nothing.

Later in the day, my wife wanted to do a little fishing too.  She was not as enamored as was I with the casting and retrieving methods of angling, so I rigged her up a hook on a leader about two feet below a bright little bobber.  After baiting the hook, I showed her again how to cast (it had been awhile since we had fished together) and she expertly tossed her set-up just where it needed to be… and caught a fish.

Wooooohooo!  I couldn’t get that spinner off of my line fast enough.  In no time we were both doing what had proven to be successful, and sure enough, it wasn’t long before I also got a bite and we had grilled fish that evening.

The moral to the story?  Keep fishing.  And if what you’re doing isn’t working, try something else.

I remember growing up in the sixties and going to gospel meetings in our home congregation at Rock Creek, West Virginia, and other area congregations that were sometimes two weeks long, but people would come!

Other such meetings were held in the big civic center in Charleston, the capitol, and literally thousands of people would attend, and there were plenty of baptisms.  Sadly, those kinds of things aren’t happening any more.

There doesn’t seem to be the widespread respect for and interest in the study of the Bible that there once was.  But don’t be fooled.  The fact that things are not just like they were in the past doesn’t mean that no one at all is interested.  Keep fishing.  If flies and spinners aren’t getting the desired result, do something else.

Use your telephone.  Invite a friend to church.  Send a card to tell someone you’re praying for them.  Use your e-mail account or face book or my space.  Last week I marked a New Testament with page numbers and comments and mailed it to a young lady.  Who knows what will happen.

Hey, just in this congregation, we’ve got seven baptisms on record for this year.

Never give up.  Keep a line wet.  Every fisherman knows that the fish will bite again.

Marty Kessler