Mount of Beatitudes (Photo credit: Blondie5000)
The other day I clicked on a website where I fish frequently, and the caption read, “Closed for the Season.” I love to fish, however I realize when its cold fish do not bite often. A little research revealed that while certain fish are active in the cold, most are not. In fact they shut down many functions and lower their metabolism negating the need for food, (no hunger). Ice fisherman cut holes in frozen lakes to reach the fish which are hanging suspended below and the fish see the bait, yet never move toward it even though they know what it is by smell and sight.
Matthew 5:6 states “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” As fish shut down and do not eat, my thoughts moved to Christians who stop reading their bibles, who stop praying, who begin to miss church and get to a place in their lives where a preacher can preach the Word of God with the power of God and the cold-hearted Christian like the fish, feels God, hears God, knows that God is speaking to them, yet never moves in response. They just hang suspended.
Much like the church at Laodicea (Revelation 2), many people have become lukewarm, and as such have no desire to nibble at God’s Word. They have become sickly, undernourished, and remain that way until death. God provides for us with every breath, every second of life an opportunity to stay healthy, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be filled. We can no longer blame God nor can we blame the church, instead we must look at ourselves in light of God’s Word and realize our condition stems from a lack of contact with God.
