It’s a fairly cool afternoon, and a little breezy. Sitting on the dock at my brother’s house in East Texas. He’s set up fishing poles around loaded with tasty treats for the fish just daring to take a bite.
Sometimes you watch them closely… Or, sometimes the turtles get in the way of the fish.
I’m not the fisherman. I’ve never been crazy to rush to the pole and toss a line. It does not entice me as it does for some. Take it. Leave it. Maybe I will. Most likely I won’t.
But, here I am.
Suddenly. A nibble, a pole bends to the water, and someone steps up to bring the fish to the surface. Another grabs a net. Victory! Claimed by whom? All of us!
Wait! Who else should get to claim? Who made the line, floater, weight, rod, reel? Who was the retailer? Don’t they get a claim in the victory?
Say, whaaaaatttt? Why? We are all just little pieces of the big picture. When you try to usurp the “whole” for your little part in the puzzle, perhaps you think it’s all about you.
Think about every award recipient on the stage of life. They did not get there alone, and if they are wise, they realize that many helpers along the way got them to be limelighted.
Paul says it best,
one plants, one waters,
but God gives the increase.
Never boast to be on the top of the heap without giving claim to all those who helped you have the victory.
After all, God gives the increase!