PERSONAL BEST

Bluegill...2 pounds 4 ounces...12.5 inches. Richmond Mill, NC.

Interesting topic...personal bests. Doesn't have to be a record to anyone but yourself...the best you have done, or, the best you have to offer. A goal, a benchmark...something to shoot for, new heights to reach. But...does that mean that we are never satisfied with what we have caught, or accomplished, or have done in our lives?

Charlies'  PR blue cat at 60 pounds. James River, VA.

Seems like there's always new species to catch and conquer. Is a 60 pound blue cat big enough? Or do we quest for that 70, maybe 80 pounder? Is a 2 pound bluegill good enough for our own personal achievements...or do have to have a 'three'? Is there ever any end to it all? Worse yet...are we ever really satisfied? Ten pound bass? Thirty inch rainbow? Forty pound carp? What makes you happy?

Linda's best black crappie at 13.5 inches.

Personal best bowfin at 30-inches and ten pounds.

My 'first ever 2-pound bluegill.

How about these personal records...personal earnings, personal number of medical procedures in a given year, or personal deepest snowfall in recorded history? Sometimes a personal record can be a 'worst' rather than a "best". Personal bests come in a wide range of things, including fish...

Paul's best ever largemouth bass.

Matt's 12.5 inch hybrid sunfish another personal best. Local pond.

Black-nosed crappie at 13.25 inches.

Flier sunfish at 9 7/8 inches, Little River, NC.

A 22 inch largemouth bass through the ice from February 2014.

'Best' way to eat fish!

My 'new best friend'...Ken Smith from western PA.

Yes indeed, we all have goals, benchmarks, destinations and desires that we have either reached or are still trying...'striving' to accomplish. Nothing wrong with setting our sites high and staying the course to reach them. In many ways, it is what we live for...a house, a job position, a family, or perhaps an athletic goal.

Is there abetter setting than this?

Some of my goals are life-long in achieving...they are the goals of pleasing my God, Lord and Savior...Jesus Christ. Some days, I do very well at reaching them. At other times...not so good. Things like lust, greed and selfishness get in the way of these goals. I'll admit that I don't need the help of the devil. I can sin just fine on my own, thank you. And am I ever glad my Savior pours grace and forgiveness over this broken down, train-wreck of a man who constantly needs His guidance, but doesn't always seek it.

I really like what it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17..'If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. All things have become new'. Wow! Can you or I really grasp what God is saying to us? He is telling us that, by simply accepting His free gift of salvation, by accepting Him as Lord of our life, that we are no longer slaves to sin. We can work dilligently on removing sin from our lives. And when we do screw up and do fall, He will forgive us and renew our minds and hearts with the Holy Spirit within us, enabling us to conquer the evil one and triumph over our once sinful lives.

THAT, MY FRIEND, IS THE 'PERSONAL BEST' I WANT TO HAVE! MY PRAYER IS THAT YOU WOULD DESIRE THE VERY SAME THING AND ACCEPT JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOR OF YOU LIFE.

May you never thirst, for the living waters of God will satisfy.

As waters flow full and high in the spring, God's intentions for our lives are also high, but they don't recede and dry up when times are tough...the waters continue to flow. Let His Love, Grace and Mercy fuel your life. Let Jesus Christ be your own 'Personal Best'.