New Things
Like most fly fishermen, I’m a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to my hobby. For example, I inherited a split bamboo fly from my uncle when I was fourteen, taught myself the art of flycasting, and enjoyed that old rod thoroughly. There were fiberglass models everywhere at the time, but I refused to even consider buying one. Bamboo fly rods were classic. And as the country folks used to say: “Why fix it if it ain’t broke?”
Later came graphite. Space Age material. It was supposed to be lighter. Have faster action. Enable longer casts. But it wasn’t bamboo – what I was used to – and so I resisted. By then I was emotionally attached to my old stick anyway. It had always served me well…until it started coming apart earlier this week.
Forced by circumstance, I finally caved in and bought one of the newer graphite-composite rods. The UPS guy brought it to my house just the other day. I took it from the box, strung it up with line, and took it outside to test it out. Two casts and I was hooked. (Not literally; bad pun, I know…), but honestly, it was as if it opened up a whole new world of wonder. I felt like the legendary flycaster Lefty Kreh, throwing farther, more accurately, and with more finesse than I’d ever thought possible. I blurted aloud, “Graphite, where have you been all my life!?”
Oh wait, it had been there for decades. I’d just been too set in my ways to try it out.
The Pharisees were like this about Jesus. They weren’t interested in His newfangled message of love and grace, so to their detriment and loss, they resisted the Good News.
When God invades our lives, He offers change. Jesus said, “Follow Me,” and following implies movement. Movement from one place to another, for sure, but also from one way of thinking to another. “Be transformed by the renewal of your minds,” wrote the Apostle Paul. In other words, be open to new ideas, new methods; new ways of looking at the truths revealed in God’s Word. Always stay open to change, so God can change you. It can open up a whole new world of wonder
David