January 13, 2022 – Click here to listen
I went fishing with three longtime friends last Friday and I caught a magnificent African Pompano.
Remarkably I caught it on 15 lb. test on a light spinning rod and reel. The fish was in the 50 lb. plus range. and it took me almost an hour to get it in the boat. Every time I would get it beside the boat, off the fish would go stripping out 100 or more yards. My arthritic hands were aching as was my back before I finally got it close enough to gaff.
Though all of us were veteran fishermen with decades of experience none of us had ever seen an African Pompano that big. It is not rare to catch one and all of us had caught them including some very large ones, but this fish seemed to dwarf them all.
One of the guys with us is one of the top charter captains in the Keys and he exclaimed he would rank that fish as one of the top 15 fish he has seen boated in his long illustrious career. He was so enamored by it that the following day he researched it. So, imagine my shock when my friend called me and excitedly told me that I had broken the all-time world record when I caught that fish.
Huh? We all knew it was big, but none of us stopped to think that it might be a record book fish. To make it official I would have needed to take it to Worldwide Sportsman to get it officially weighed and certified on a digital scale, but instead, we cut the tail off because it was too large to get into the fish box and then cleaned and fileted that beautiful fish and gave the meat away to a guy who loved eating them. Ugh . . .
So, I set a world record with that fish . . . almost . . . I have the photo and I have the fond memories of fishing with some of the best friends a person could ever want, but my name was not written into the record.
This reminds me of the Lord’s Book of Life; it will be used at the Great White Throne of Judgment when God judges humanity. Revelation 20:15 declares, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” The Book of Life contains the set of names of those who will live with God forever in heaven and those who will not. It is also rereferred “to as the Lamb’s Book of Life” because it contains the names of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus.
Once your name has been added, it may never be removed. Revelation 3:5 is clear that the Lord will not erase a name: “He who overcomes . . . I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life.”
I was having a blast fishing, fellowshipping, and laughing with my friends, and adding my name to a book of world records was far from my mind until it was too late. All I can do in that regard is wistfully think of what might have been.
My friends don’t get so caught up in this world that one day you find yourself before the Great White Throne of Judgment without your name being recorded in the Lambs Book of Life. Accept the only living Son of God as your Savior today and be assured that God’s record of it will stand forever. We are promised two things by God: We all will face death and after that the judgment. Be ready!
Matt. 24:38
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away.
So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man . . .