THEY CAN SWIM, BUT THEY CAN'T HIDE

Not big, but a lot of fun in January!

Tonight's writeup is going to be short and sweet...to the point, you might say. A hook point, a drawing point, a bullet point. I went to my favorite small, local, public lake this past Sunday for a few hours of fishing after church. Fifty degrees...warm for January...and the panfish bite was hot. Fish were shallow, taking 1/100th oz jigs tipped with a wax or meal worm 4 feet below a tiny bobber. Float would barely move , or go under r-e-a-l  s-l-o-w. Nothing big...gills to 8 inches, a few 2 lb bass, medium crappies and some big red ears...even a nice green sunfish. I had my 'January Slam'...four or more species from the open-water, shore fishing efforts. The 54 total fish were the most I had ever caught in a January outing in open water. A good way to kick off the new year.

These 1/100th oz jigs get the fish in the cold.

For the most part, I would not have thought I could have caught that many fish at that time of year. But it just goes to show, that if you look hard enough you'll eventually find the fish...even in the chilly 40 degree water. Here's a couple headliners...

Another party crasher.

Pretty nice redears for cold-water fishin'.

Yet another bass.

Throw in a couple decent crappies...

...some decent bluegills...

...and a bonus, hawg greenie and we got the January Slam!

True, nothing really big here. But just getting out, dodging skim ice and fighting the mid-winter grip proved to me that they can swim, but they can't hide.

Much the same can be said of my life...maybe yours, too. That is, I can run, or seek to run away from sin, but I truly cannot hide from God's knowledge of it. All of it. He knows every flaw, every idle thought and lustful imagination. He knows my anger, knows my selfishness and He knows my tendency to slip away in my worship of Him and my lack of enthusiasm to spread His word or stand up for His truthfulness and righteousness. Yet, despite all the flaws, all the bad points, He still loves me and forgives me. Like the fish, I can run, but I can't hide. I can't hide from His perfect knowledge of me, nor can I escape His grace and love. And that, my friends, is the good news!

Psalm 14 says some cool stuff...'The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of man to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." And verse 3 states...'All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt, there is no one who does good, not even one." But the scripture continues...'for God is present in the company of the righteous...the Lord is their refuge.'

No one on planet earth can escape God's knowledge of our past or present sins. That's why Christ is His Son who forgives us of all that junk. How cool is THAT! Ask Jesus to forgive you, enter into you life, and show you the way eternal. I'm glad I can't hide!