Light Attracts Fish by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

            My son loves to fish, so every year we take him and his rods and reels to the Texas coast so he can participate in the sport he loves.  Generally we rent a house on the water.  When looking at potential houses, I want to know the particulars,  “Does it have a nice kitchen?  How many bedrooms? Baths?” Meanwhile, my son’s only prerequisite for a house rental is the pier.  He wants to know how long it is and if there is good light. He could care less about the other amenities of the house.

            I never understood why light was so important until this last trip to the coast.  Because we waited too late to book a house, the only rental left had a lighted pier, but the pier only had one light. It was that or nothing, so we took it. The first couple of days, my son and his friend were getting frustrated because they didn’t catch many fish, so they decided to change locales. They had spotted a heavily lighted public pier, not too far from the house, so they loaded up their gear and  went over there to see if they’d have better luck.

            As it turned out, the light made all the difference. The fish were jumping on their hooks because they were attracted to the strong light. It was at that point, the light bulb in my head went on, making a concept very clear to me. When Jesus called to his disciples, he said, Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I wear a bracelet made of fish hooks to always remind me what I’m on this earth to do. But to catch fish, you must have good light radiating from you. The stronger, the better.

            Jesus also said, You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

            The reason why most of us don’t draw people to Christ is because our piers are poorly lit.  We are not radiating a strong light of Christ to others. Are we always sad, complaining or angry rather than exhibiting the fruits of the spirit like love, joy and peace?  Then our light is not bright enough to attract the lost and they will just find another pier to fish from.

            While I know what I’m on this earth to do, I will never have success if my personal pier is poorly lit. Today I’m evaluating what I need to do to increase the light that shines out of me. What about you?  How bright is your pier? How many are you snagging for the kingdom?