Caught or Released?

I have been accumulating fish for this Thursday's Celebrate Recovery special speaker and fish-fry event.  I will say, it has been tiring because there are several moving parts to this event.  The catching is fun.  The cleaning, the logistics of figuring out times when other people can be part of the catching and just the worry of "will we have enough fish?" has been heaver on my mind than it should.  Because in the midst of this project church life happens.  Charge Conference is coming fast (September 19).  Issues within the church family and my biological family are happening.  People are getting sick and going to the hospital.  Civic duties continue to unfold.  There are nuances and sub-plots to all that is happening.  There are lots of fun things in which to invest my energy.  Fact is ... I am way to stressed over these things.  Like those fish I am caught up in things that will do me harm.

Then ... maybe to clear all of our brains from the secular, the mundane, the unimportant, we hear Jesus.  We are on a hill overlooking the "Rio" of Jesus' time.  A campfire is burning.  All of our fellow campers know what is happening down there.  There are parties, drugs, what the world calls "fun."  It's just a few miles away, down the trail into Caesarea Philippi.  We could go and jump right into the "fun."  But Jesus asks a question ... "Who do YOU say that I am?" (Matthew 16).  It stops us short as we think about this question.  Our answer defines our actions (or should, something I fail at often).  Our answer decides whether we want to be caught (in the world) or released (into God's vast kingdom).  Jesus' question hits me hard because it is a decision I must address all through each day.  Who, really, is Jesus to me?  Does He make a daily difference that gives me freedom and wholeness?  If I am "caught" in life, wouldn't it behoove me to find a savior that could release me?  Wayne Watson asks (about His relationship to Jesus) "Would I miss You now, if You left and closed the door, would my flesh cry out? I don't need You anymore, or would I follow You, could I be restored? I wonder if I'd know You now?"  Great question!  Randy