Week 56 Bible Reading: Luke 7:34–48

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. - Luke 7:36

An old fisherman sits on the tailgate of his truck and looks out over the river for fifteen minutes or so before putting a line in the water, searching for fish. “No use fishing where they ain’t,” he says.

It was said of Jesus that He was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). In other words, he hung out not just with people who believed in Him, but those who didn’t. We can learn from this: If we have only Christian friends, we may be fishing for souls “where they ain’t.”

Being with friends who don’t believe in Jesus is the first step in “fishing.” Then comes love—caring for our friends by showing kindness to them and saying kind things to them.

This isn’t always easy. We need God’s help to show Jesus to our friends who don’t know Him.

The top recreational activity for Americans is running, but in second place is fishing. Approximately fifty million Americans go fishing in a year.