Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Pastors’ Column – 03/18/13



The ice fishing was slow. Here and there, a flag would tip, but most of the time, it was the result of an expert minnow thief.

Somehow the fish, singular or plural, were stealing the bait without getting caught. Finally, between 2 and 2:30 p.m., we caught a couple of 2-pound northerns.

Usually, when I clean the fish, I do a little examination of the stomachs to see what they were eating. However, since this time I was cleaning them upstairs in the cabin, I didn’t want to make any more of a mess than necessary.

When I was transferring the innards from the pail to a garbage bag the next morning, I noticed that one of the northerns had a very large appetite. In his stomach, I found two large shiner minnows, one sucker minnow, and at least 12 one-inch sunfish. I have never seen so many minnows and small fish in one fish’s stomach.

It seems, we had caught the minnow thief because it desired just one more.

This situation made me wonder to what danger I expose myself when I am not satisfied with what I have, and desire more than I need. Proverbs 27:20 says, “Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.”

Am I willing to accept this warning from God’s Word, that my eyes will always want more? That my eyes will never cease seeing things they want? That they will always lure me into thinking that one more item will satisfy?

You never know when that one more item will have a hook in it that will take you away from the satisfying life of knowing Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

It doesn’t take much for us to get distracted by things of this world. No wonder that John warned us in I John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the craving of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

For what are you longing? Will it have a hook in it?

Keep in God’s Word so that you are satisfied in Him and watchful that what you purchase does not take you away from Him.

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