I love to fish. I don't do it nearly as often as I would like to, but I really enjoy the sport.

My tackle boxes are an evidence of my obsession. They are filled with a wonderful variety of lures, in all shapes, sizes and configurations. Spoons, crank-baits, spinners, flies, streamers, jigs and more are scattered through the boxes.

Some lures (perhaps most) are designed to catch fishermen, not fish. I've probably caught 3/4 of all the fish I've ever hooked on one kind of lure, a simple red and white spoon. Now part of that is because of the species of fish I go after (Northern Pike), but it's also an effective lure for other species as well. I've caught walleye, perch and a number of trout species on it as well.

Knowing that it's the most effective lure in my box hasn't kept me from trying other things. I have this wonderful frog that floats on the surface and kicks its legs as it's retrieved. I've watched pike take frogs on the surface, but I've never caught one in over fifteen years of using my frog.

I have a wonderful long feathered jig that looks like the ideal ticket for pike. It's been in the box for six or seven years and never even been close to a fish. There's a great looking minnow, a shiny buzz bait and many more that I could tell similar stories about.

My tackle box resembles the church in many ways. We get involved in all kinds of programs, we try all sorts of ideas from the latest church growth "guru", we play with our preaching to make it more "seeker friendly" and we generally keep busy with all kinds of "stuff."

The problem being that most of the things we do have very little to do with what we called to do as churches and that’s to be used to save souls, disciple them and equip them to go out and save more souls.

Temptation and distraction don't have to be evil things. We can be tempted and distracted by great causes and wonderful ideas.

The church in Ephesus was noted for it's wonderful works, but they got sidetracked

The church at Sardis was busy all the time, but spiritually dead

As individuals we can get hooked into doing all kinds of "good things" that will have no impact on the harvest. You know them, the people who coach amateur sports seven days a week, the person who is involved in every committee in your community, the church member who is so involved with various programs that they never have time to rest or spend time worshipping or in the Word.

All of these things are good things, but like the lures in my tackle box, they keep us from doing what we're called to do.

What good work or program do you need to give up to be all that God is calling you to be?

Until next time, spend some time in prayer and find out which of your priorities match His.

Be blessed.

Hallelu Yah (Praise God)!

Kevin

http://gleaningsfromtheword.com/

Many people are heavily involved in things because of a mistaken belief that they get to heaven by their good deeds. Good deeds don't cut it! It is important to do good things but the only way to get to heaven is with a personal relation with Jesus. Absolutely nothing else will do.

If you haven't made the decision to accept Christ as Lord