God’s caretakers

I told my son that I was going fishing off my dock in the Florida Keys the other night and to keep an eye out as I would need some help releasing the tarpon I was going to catch. He looked at me with a little smirk on his face and said he would keep an eye out. I went out and as predicted I promptly caught a nice tarpon. The tarpon made several runs and jumped rather magnificently several times before it became obvious that it was ready to succumb. I kept looking towards the house and did not see my son anywhere.

I have a ladder about halfway out the walkway on my dock whereby I can enter the water. I guided the fish down towards the ladder and I struggled mightily with rod in one hand and the ladder in the other, but finally made it down the ladder and into the ocean. A barracuda had been following the tarpon and I was afraid he would attack the tarpon in its weakened state. When I entered the water it scared the barracuda away and it was just me and the tarpon. I was wading waist deep in the water, rod in hand with the tarpon slowly circling me.

I yelled at the top of my lungs and whistled as loud as I could whistle, but no one came to my aide. I wanted to release the tarpon, but would need to cut the line. I did not have a knife and the ninety pound leader and braided monofilament were too much for me to bite through. The tarpon was getting more tired and I was afraid he was going to die; I tried my best to allow it to rest and only lightly guided it around me in wide circles.

This went on for what seemed like an hour and finally I saw my son stick his head out the door and look and then come out the door running. I yelled at him to bring a knife and he did so. When he got there he gave me the knife and I cut the line close to his jaw. With one hand under the fish I then gently swam the tarpon back and forth to get oxygen flowing through its gills and after making sure it had fully recovered I released it. The tarpon swam off none the worse for the battle and I got out of the water. I berated my son for not watching as he had promised. He sheepishly said he had been putting his twins to bed and had “forgotten” to keep an eye on me. “Yeah right”, I said, “You had no faith!”

I was thinking about this last night as I watched a Planet Earth series on the fish of the ocean on the Discovery Channel. According to the Bible we have been given dominion over all of the “works of God’s hands”. All things have been put under us and we have a responsibility to manage it wisely. According to this series we are not managing our worldwide fish population wisely, along with many other wonderful natural resources that God has provided to us.

On a personal basis, I was really afraid that tarpon was going to die before someone got out there to help me and it made me sick. I wished that I had not even caught it as the tarpon is a truly magnificent fish. They are not good to eat; they are however, one of the hardest fighting fish and sportsmen love them. In the end this fish went on to fight another day and I feel good about that.

As God’s stewards we have a responsibility to be good caretakers of God’s creation. I am not some bunny-hugger nor am I a tree hugger, but God has trusted us with His creation and we should be responsible. Our envoironment is being abused primarily by greedy businessmen and scummy politicians bellying up to lobbyists with cash in their greasy fingers. Think about your responsibility and elect those who will take it seriously! Make a call now and then or write a letter and let them know that the envoironment is important to you. This is God’s gift to us that is being destroyed every day!

Psalm 8:6
What is man that You are mindful of him?
…
You have made him to have
dominion over the works of
Your hands;
You have put all things under
his feet,
All sheep, oxen
Even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea,
That pass through the paths of
the seas.
O Lord, our Lord
How excellent is Your name in
all the earth.