A DIFFERENT KIND OF FISH Monthly Devotional

By Chaplain and CFC Executive Director Dave Harvey

Cowboys and Cowgirls, I sure can chow down on some good shellfish – except for raw oysters; I have just never acquired the taste for them. Most shellfish are the kind of fish that are edible, and I mean the kind that you can really eat. Most of them that I have eaten – and that is a pretty good bunch – really taste great; and for the most part, they are good for you. Now, most of us Cowboys and Cowgirls know that there are fish that you can eat and there are fish that will eat you. I personally am a typical “cowboy swimmer” – which means that I probably will not be able to out-swim a shark, or even a rock. With that swimming ability, or lack thereof, I don’t go very far from the shore, wherever that may be, ocean or large stock tank. I just have no desire to be “fish bait” – so I try to keep one foot on dry ground, if possible.

While we are talking about fish, let’s talk about another kind of “fish” – and it sure is not a shark or shellfish. I want to talk about the most dangerous “fish” that there is in existence, and it has been around for a real long time. Down through the ages, there have been many who have been caught by this “fish”; just ask Satan or a whole host of others, if you are inclined to speak to them. Now this fish is spelled a little differently, so we won’t smell the fishy smell until sometimes it is too late. We are all susceptible to being bitten by this “fish”; and often, we don’t even realize that we are even being attacked by this most dangerous and often deadly fish. This “fish” is what we call “self-fish” –or actually, it has been shortened to “selfish” to try to cover up the danger of this most dreaded “fish.”

This “self” fish (or, as we normally call it, selfish) is the kind of fish that will eat you – and it will eat your family, even your kids; it will eat your marriage, it will eat your friends, your coworkers, and actually the stranger who passes your way. This “fish” is to be feared much more than a few great white sharks that may happen to be swimming in your stock tank or pond, or just an occasional killer whale that may swim by while you are floating across the Atlantic on your raft.

This most dreaded of all “fish” will consume your joy, devour your happiness, and totally feast on your life. “Selfish” will outlast any “hooked a big fish” battle – and it sure won’t just get off of your hook and swim away on its own.

This “fish” has destroyed relationships, demolished friendships, worked havoc on marriages, and actually devastated lives; and in many cases, those involved did not realize that they had been in a fish-fight. This is because the “self” in “selfish” means “yourself,” and many don’t understand that the battle that is being waged is really between you and you, with the adversary using a harpoon to dig as deep and cause as much hurt as possible. So many folks think that being selfish means “keeping all my stuff for me”; but it also means being stingy with our time, our feelings, our words, our prayers, and even our love. It means taking our thoughts and allowing them to cause pain by not thinking of others as we march through life with our focus on “me, myself and I” – totally unaware of the suffering all around us.

Most of us are familiar with the “fish” story in the Book of Jonah and how he was swallowed by a big fish. We fail to see this terrible “selfish” that had taken over the mind and body of the Prophet Jonah, and that this “fish” was seeking total destruction of Jonah, the sailors on the ship he was on, and even the people of Nineveh – to whom he was supposed to deliver the message of hope and salvation from the LORD. The big fish or whale that swallowed Jonah didn’t like the taste of the “selfish” that had driven Jonah to disobey the LORD. Jonah was trying to get away from fulfilling the direct WORD that came to him to go to Nineveh; and that “selfish” in Jonah made the big fish sick, and he vomited Jonah out on dry ground.

Now, Cowboys and Cowgirls, if that “selfish” made the big fish so sick that he actually vomited Jonah out on the shore, don’t you think that same “selfish” would make us sick and make it real hard to keep it on our stomachs, too? Well, what about those around us who see our “selfish” swimming all around us and are watching us choke and strangle on that “selfish” that is caught in our throats, not going on down and probably on the way back up? For all sin is selfish action. James 4:1: “Do you know where your fights and arguments come from?

IS Your Membership about to expire?

You can sign-up or renew your membership online at any time on our website. Log onto your profile at georgiacattlemen.org to renew today!

They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you.”

You may be thinking right now that you have seen that “selfish” working in someone’s life; and probably there are folks who could be thinking of times when they may possibly have seen that same “fish” swimming around in your life. Guess what: Many of those folks who may have seen it in your life are your spouses, your parents, your children, your family, your coworkers, your friends – and maybe even those whom you were ministering to or hoped to reach for the LORD. That dreaded “fish” can sure take the strength out of your witness and leave you powerless before the enemy. The lives you were hoping to reach for JESUS CHRIST are lost in the sea of doubt, hurt and confusion as they watch that “selfish” swim around you and maybe even swallow you. At best, you will only end up as the biggest chuck in a pile of fish vomit, but you will certainly end up fruitless for the Kingdom of God.

Dear Heavenly Father: Please touch your servants in a special way and give us victory over this dreaded and dangerous “selfish.” Please give us wisdom and power to be the fruitful workers for the Kingdom of God that you have created us to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.