Fish Eye’s View

Short version:

Matthew 4:18-22 (NLT) & Mark 1:16-21 (NLT)

I was at the pool today playing with my waterproof camera. I was messing around and took a few pictures of myself through the water.  Suddenly the thought hit me:  Jesus called us to be fishers of men.  Fishermen are normally above the water surface.

So what does the fish see? The bait? Our shadow? Does it even see our face?

If we are fishers of men, how do the ‘fish’ perceive us?  Is it attractive? Or scary? Chances are if the fish can’t really see us for who we are, they will be scared since there seems to be scary barrier called the ‘waters of life’ between us.

You want to fish for men? Dive in. How else are you going to reel them in? Jesus used his loving arms.

Long Version:

I will be honest I am not much of a fisherman when it comes to fishing. But I do love fish. Not really to eat, but to watch. I have had an aquarium for about 12 years now, before that I helped my parents put in a pond in their yard. I have always found fish to be relaxing.

I watch them and let my mind wander and when it wanders it goes down some pretty strange paths. So I have always wondered how fish see and hear or perceive us. We can stare in awe and wonder at their beauty and be calmed by their peaceful presence in the water, yet they seem to shy away from us for the most part, until they grow accustomed to our presence.

You can even train them to do some wild things. (Just watch the videos below!) One of my fish always sits at the same spot of the aquarium at the same time every day waiting for his food, no fancy tricks.

I used to sit and stare through an aquarium and notice that I would see a reflection on the water surface making it almost impossible to look out of the water. So when I had my first water proof camera, what did I do? I instantly put it in my aquarium to see what the world looked like in the eyes of my fish.  After all they spent a lot of time watching me, I wanted to know what they were really seeing … and hearing.

And not to my surprise, they saw basically pretty much the same thing I saw.  Through the glass that is. The water surface was different.  It depends on how still the water is. What they usually see doesn’t look all too attractive to me … actually rather scary.

Today I was at the pool playing around with one of my underwater cameras.  And I started to realize something; Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. We are the fishermen, the lost are the fish.  So how do the fish see, hear or perceive us?

I have been a church kid, the raised in a Christian home kind of kid all my life. I am around a lot of people who have been in church a long time. I stand on the outside of the world looking at all the crazy kind of ‘fish’ there are,  having forgotten what it was like to really be a fish.  I wonder what may be going on in their minds. I wonder what bait might be the best to hook em and reel em in. But have I ever put much though into how they may actually see me?

When I go out into the community spending time with other outside of the church, I do spend some time in the ‘waters of the world’, but my vision is different than those who only know the ‘waters of the world’. I wear the goggles of Salvation that have changed my vision. I see past the surface of the waters and see beyond them to a loving Savoir.  I know that when I break through the surface there is a place of refuge, peace, completion, soul refreshing, soul healing and soul curing.  What looks scary to many is inviting to me, because I have experienced good things outside of the waters.

When you look at the verses of how Jesus calls those first disciples to be fishers of men, he doesn’t leave it at a calling; he dives in and does it just after they start following him. He goes into the temple and instantly we see people are amazed and at awe of the authority in teaching. He didn’t use bait, he made no apologies, he lived the love of the father and taught straight from the Word without wavering.  And the fish were instantly drawn to him.

If he would have stood on the outside of the waters of the world, he would have looked pretty scary to the fish. He dove in. And not becoming a fish or fish food. He drew them in with love, attention, truth and by pointing forward to life outside of the waters. (the kingdom of the father)

I could go on writing, philosophizing and rambling. But it boils down to the question: What do you look like to the fish near you?  Do they come close to you or do they shy away? What do you think may need to change if they aren’t coming close?

Next time you are in a pool, go to the bottom, open your eyes and look up. And think about the fish eye’s view.

Scripture:

 18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.
  21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.   Matthew 4:18-22 (NLT)

16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simons and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”18 And they left their nets at once and followed him.
  19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets.20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men. 21 Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach.22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.   Mark 1:16-21 (NLT)