Well, NOT THE “Lewis and Clark,” but rather “Lewis Clark.” Lewis was one of the members where I preached in Texas. When I first moved to the congregation people told me never to turn down a fishing trip with Lewis Clark. “If there were fish in the river,” they told me, “Lewis will catch them.” Eventually, after a few hints, Lewis Clark invited me to go fishing. It was an amazing day.
After all these years I can still say that my day of fishing with Lewis Clark was my best fishing experience ever. I learned four great lessons that day.
Lesson One: To catch fish you have to go fishing.
I can talk about fishing with the best. I can tell about the one that got away and the one that I let go. Great fishermen are not made by telling fishing stories, but by people going fishing. Jesus told his disciples, “I will make you fishers of men,” (Matt 4:19) but to do so the disciples had to go fishing for men.
Lesson Two: To catch fish you have to go fishing where the fish are.
I got to Lewis’ house about 5AM. After a couple of hours we finally got to a place on the river that I never knew existed. That place was the place where the fish were. Before we left that morning Lewis called some of his fishing buddies to ask where the fish were feeding. If you want to catch people for Jesus, you have to go to the people.
Lesson Three: To catch fish you have to stay with the task.
That day was the best fishing day of my life. It was also the longest day. We left at 5 that morning and did not get home till 10 that night. We fished all morning and caught nothing, but that afternoon things finally started happening. Success is seldom immediate. Success comes to those who persevere.
Lesson Four: To catch fish you have to trust your guide.
All day I was aware that I would have quit fishing if it were not for my faith in Lewis. I persevered because I trusted Lewis. When we walk with Jesus we can stay the course because we trust the guide who leads us on our spiritual journey.
I hope you didn’t think this was a note on how to catch fish. It was about how to become good at anything you want to do. Look at those four lessons and you will be able to apply them to anything in life. Let me paraphrase the lessons and maybe you can see them more easily.
1. Go after what you want.
2. Go where you need to go.
3. Stay with the task.
4. Trust your mentor.
Do these four things to get good, really good at anything.
~Lonnie Davis