Guilt Trip

I’ve lived on a lake since 1999 and I am a rabid fisherman. Twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall, I go out to stock my freezer with scrumptious bluegill. I do not ice fish. Last time I went ice fishing, a snowmobiler pulled up to my ice hole and asked how the fish were biting.

After I gave him the thumbs down sign he said, “Hop on the back and we’ll troll for awhile” . . . (Nyuk, nyuk). Anyway . . . when I discovered that, in the spring and the fall, the fish on the north end of my lake bite the best . . . that’s where I head every spring and fall.

At first my twice yearly appearances attracted the curiosity of the neighbors. They’d come over to check out who I was and what was biting. We’d strike up a conversation which usually resulted in my giving them a free CD.

One spring when I was fishing, four young kids showed up to fish. Problem was . . . they only had one fishin’ rod amongst four kids, and that one was catchin’ fish! This made the other three kids antsy for action.

That’s when one boy spied me and my extra rod laying unused by my side. After watching him hopping up and down and saying a lot of “pleases,” I let him use my spare rod . . . but not without some instruction. His casting skills needed a lot of honing so I stopped fishing and helped the boy learn the fine art of accuracy. After a while, I realized he was more interested in seeing how far he could cast than in placing the bait in a strategic spot.

Eventually, we became fishin’ buddies. Every time that spring that I showed up to fish, it wouldn’t be long before my ten year-old fishin’ buddy would show up to use my spare rod. (I ended up giving him an old rod/reel of mine for his own to keep.) One day, I asked the boy if he knew who Jesus was.

His reply was, “He’s the one who gets born and then dies every year.”

After I asked him to explain his answer, I realized that, to this boy, Jesus was an event that happens twice a year.

When I asked him what that meant to him, he said, “Presents . . . candy.”

He didn’t understand that Jesus was God in the flesh sent on a “guilt” trip to a guilt-ridden planet (earth) to save guilty (sinful) man. Jesus took this “guilt” trip out of compassion . . . to identify with us . . . not to condemn us. Guilt condemns . . . love is motivated to do good works and covers the offenses of others --- not twice a year but 365 days a year! Jesus is not an event twice a year. He is the resurrection and the life.