Wet Feet and Joyful Hearts

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.  - Proverbs 14:23

I love to fly fish. Often on my day off I retreat to the river to engage in what I call mindless concentration of casting a tiny fly into a moving river in hopes of convincing a fish that my fly is a tasty bug. I have caught a lot of fish but have never been able to net a Greenback Cutthroat Trout, Colorado’s state fish. I was talking fishing with one of our church members and he shared that he had a special spot where he was certain we could get into a greenback. He shared that this was a special place he found but it was no easy task getting there. He assured me it would be worth it as he went on about how amazing the fishing was.

It didn’t take long for me to find time and arrangements were made. I picked him up and we made the two plus hour drive up the mountain. We turned off of the pavement onto a dusty dirt road for a few more miles. It was after that we hit the “jeep trail” where we navigated rocks and muddy holes until we came to a clearing he called the parking lot. I should have known better when he suggested we take my truck because of ground clearance. Once at the parking lot we grabbed our gear and hiked about a mile further down until we came to the spot.
 
This place was everything he described and more. Other than elk tracks, moose poop, and a little bear scat, it was just about untouched. As we tied on, my dear friend was all grins because he knew what we were in for. The first cast I had a fish on. The second fish I caught was a Greenback and I could have stopped right then and been perfectly happy. Good thing we didn’t because we caught plenty of fish.  

As we began the hike up out of the river to the truck I thought about the day and how much it took for us to get there, but also that it was so worth it. I thought about how my dear friend described this special place with joy and excitement and how his excitement was contagious to me. That day was certainly a gift from the Lord given to me through a dear friend who had experienced that same gift from God.
 
Christians, we have been given something so much greater and that is forgiveness and redemption through the Gospel. Like sharing about a special fishing spot we should be more excited about inviting someone to our Sunday gathering or life group or into your home to share the love of Jesus with them. Excitement about what Jesus has done is contagious and as redeemed people we should be excited about that.

Another thing I pondered was what it took for us to get to this spot. If my friend would have simply told me that we were going to drive for over two hours, bounce down a really rough road for a few miles, hike a mile or so in the timber, and then wade in a cold river I would have never accepted the invite. But instead, my friend shared that we would most certainly catch fish. It was the why beneath the what that drew me in. It was worth it.

As believers we can often get really focused on what we are doing and forget about why. The why we do things always defines what we do. And the why we do such things like serving our community with snow cones and bounce houses is so we can invite them into a life changing experience with the Savior of the world. Why we gather every Sunday to set up is so we can experience the joy we have in Jesus. Why we give of our time, talents, and money is so others can join us in this joy of being God’s people.
 
I pray that we are, as James 1:22 says, “doers of the word and not hearers only.” Let's be joyful, passionate disciples of Jesus who embrace why we have such joy.