The Dragnet

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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I’ve never been much of a fisherman. Mostly I’ve fished from the banks of rivers and occasionally from a boat. But my experiences have been enough to let me know that fishing would not be a good vocation for me.

When I was a young boy fishing with my grandfather I would sometimes think about how much easier it would be if we just put down a big net to catch the fish instead of waiting around all afternoon for the fish to take our bait. While he was quite content to relax and enjoy the time away from work, I was more interested in wanting to catch lots of fish and then go back home.

There are programs on television that feature some commercial fishermen. These professionals have very elaborate tools with which to find and catch large quantities of fish. They make it look very easy.

One of the methods they employ is a large net which is pulled behind the boat and catches most everything in its path. This is quite an efficient process to watch. They can capture an entire school of fish, plus other types of marine life that just happen to be in the path of the net.

A variation of this type of net is called a dragnet. This net has weights placed on the bottom and wood floats on the top. This enabled the nets to cover the entire span of water from the lake floor to the surface.

These nets were in use in the days of Jesus and were also quite efficient. While not too far from shore, these nets would be lowered down from the boats. They were then either pulled into the boats or pulled up on to the shore. Just like the commercial fishermen of today, anything that was in the way of that net was captured.

In Matthew 13:47-50, Jesus tells a parable about a dragnet.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus is speaking of the end of time and the Day of Judgment. When this world is over all will be gathered together, just as the dragnet captures all who are in its path. Then we will be separated, good from bad, just like a fisherman would do on the shore after having pulled in the nets.

Like the parable of the tares, the good and the bad coexist until the time for harvest. And also like that parable, there is no in between category. The only two options are good or bad.

Jesus speaks also of the end of time in Matthew 25:31-33.

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.”

Wheat separated from the tares. Good fish separated from the bad fish. Sheep separated from the goats. Friends, we need to understand that just because God allows the bad to coexist with the good doesn’t mean that He approves of everything. There is a day of reckoning that awaits us all. There is a day coming when you and I will be judged as either being good or bad.

The good news is that if we are bad today we don’t have to stay that way. We can become acceptable to God by learning His will for us and by obeying that will.

Jesus left us with many parables describing the kingdom of God. With each one He gives us a taste of what to expect. For some the Day of Judgment will be a day of great celebration. For others, it will be a day of doom.

Good or bad. The net is coming. Better decide which one you will be!

On Our Daily Walk today, may we thank God for the gift of today and use it wisely in His service. May we humble ourselves before Him, confess our sins and profess our willingness to do what He desires.

Our thought for the day: “A fish grows the fastest between the time it is caught and the time the fisherman tells about it.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.