09/01/2026
My personal devotional reading this morning was about learning and unlearning from a Christian perspective, and it brought back memories of those things in my life that I had to let go of as I relearned them by replacing them with the truth that the Word of God shows us. Sometimes we advance in faith by being willing to let go of what the world has taught us; things we thought were true prior to the Holy Spirit leading us to a deeper understanding.
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
I have told you this story before, but it is worth hearing again... when I was a teenage boy I was an avid fisherman, and my father and I would go fishing together quite often. One early spring we planned a trout fishing trip to the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. I had never fished for trout before, so in preparation I read every Outdoor Life, and Field and Stream magazine article I could find on the subject. I had years of back copies, so the number of instructional articles available to me were substantial. In addition... my father was an expert trout fisherman.
At long last the weekend of our trip finally came, and on a beautiful sunny morning, crisp and cool as early spring mornings can be, we pulled up our hip waders, slipped the straps of our creels over our heads, and double checked our bait, and our licenses... then we stepped to the edge of the river. It was clear and quick, making a gurgling sound as it flowed over and around the multicolored rocks in its path. I looked upstream and then down... this was a beauty I often imagined I would see in heaven.
Interrupting my enjoyment of the iconic scenery, my father took another puff of his pipe, and with his favorite old fishing hat on his head asked me if I wanted him to teach me how to trout fish. I looked at him standing there, the beard, the pipe, dressed like hundreds of pictures I had seen of fisherman from a past era, and I told him with great certainty that I knew how to do this! After all, within my head I contained the combined knowledge of every outdoor writer who had written on the subject in the past decade! So, with a knowing smile, and a halo of tobacco smoke swirling around his face, he told me to wade in, but to wait for him at the first bridge that I reached downstream. So, with great anticipation, and a bit of bravado, I took my first step into what I had always imagined to be a picture-perfect trout stream.
Well, I fished with all the skill I could muster as I slowly made my way downstream. I presented my offering to every rock, every swirl, into each mirrored pool, and into the heads and tails of every swift run of water that I came upon. I fished that river from bank to bank and left no place unvisited by my bait. I fished with a determination never before employed by any other fisherman, and used every skill, and trick, that I had gleaned from years of articles, but despite my efforts I didn’t have a single bite, and not a single fish to show for all my hard work. The water was so clear, and shallow that I should have been able to see my quarry... but nothing.
At last, exasperated and disappointed, I stood beneath the first downstream bridge waiting patiently for my father to arrive. The wait gave me time to consider that this effort was futile, and that there were no trout in this river... probably never had been! I stood there feeling sorry for myself until I saw my father come around the bend in the river upstream. It was a short run to where I was, but I watched as he fished his way towards me... as he did, I thought to myself that I wished I had a camera; although not much of a trout stream this was a picture I would like to keep forever. So, in just a few minutes we were standing together, and my father’s eyes twinkled as he smiled around the stem of his pipe... ”How many did you catch?” He asked. I hemmed and hawed around as I told him “None!” and elaborated on how there weren’t any trout in this river. He just smiled as he listened, and then saddling up beside me he opened his creel to show me several nice trout.
I was astonished at the sight of those beautiful rainbow trout, and the air went out of my pride with a whoosh as I stood there speechless. Then, after what seemed to be an eternity, he took his pipe from his mouth, looked at me with that unmistakable expression of an impending release of wisdom, and in a soft voice asked, “Are you ready to learn how to trout fish now?” I sheepishly said, “Yes sir...” and by the end of the day I had become a trout fisherman.
This sounds like a story that has nothing to do with the subject of faith, the Word of God, and our Christian walk, but it isn’t. This is exactly how we read the Bible and approach the trout streams of our faith as God is trying to use His relationship with us to impart His wisdom to us... all of this as we stand in the midst of amazing beauty. How often have you had to wait on God? How often have you stood beneath the bridge and wondered why He had brought you there?
“We cannot truly and fruitfully learn of Christ if we are not ready to unlearn as well. Through heredity, education, and tradition we have ideas about faith and God’s Word that are often hinderances because we are convinced they are the truth. Learning of Christ requires a willingness to subject every truth we hold to His inspection for criticism and correction.” – Pastor Andrew Murray
From the moment when I realized that all my reading was in vain without the experience and wisdom my earthly father brought to me, I began to unlearn those things I thought I knew, and to replace them with a much more robust understanding of trout fishing reality.
“Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.”
Proverbs 16:20 ESV
God gives us His Word, and therein are wonderful gems, but without the relationship and the deep and broad wisdom that He brings personally to us through His Holy Spirit, we never seem to catch the fish... we teach ourselves things that later we find we must unlearn in the face of absolute truth, and the proven reality of faith and love.
So, I think of those things regarding Jesus, and God, that I once held as unshakeable, only to have them rock me to my core. I think of the times I waited on God, and the doubt that I allowed to take hold of me. I think of the times I stepped out alone when I should have waited, and taken the hand of the Lord or listened rather than spoke. I remember all the lessons I taught myself that the Holy Spirit had to reteach me. Does any of this sound familiar to you?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the relationship we walk in each day, and thank you for the wisdom you lavish upon me in those hours upon hours of togetherness. Thank you for your Holy Word that I often read as if I were a child, and for your voice as you explained its depth to me, a depth that I had only seen the surface of. Lead me into the living water, the pure and clear stream of life, and impart to me your infinite knowledge. Let me feel your love as I watch the smoke of incense that wafts about you, and smell the sweetness of it in the crisp air of lush mountain passes. Give me moments of pause Gracious Father where I can contemplate my love for you, and then reveal to me another aspect of yourself that takes that love yet further. Shield me Father from the pride I have in myself that keeps me from hearing your voice clearly, guard me from doubt when I should be waiting patiently on you. Comfort me Father of Grace, as I stand quietly in your presence, and rest while waiting for your wisdom to surface. Above these deep pools let me find the peace of a cool refreshing evening beneath ancient stone bridges, with the beauty of your creation all about me. You are more than I can explain, a friend that never disappoints, a Holy Father that loves like none other, a voice sweeter than life itself, and a presence that causes all I am to quicken in the midst of your joy. Thrill me in these moments of wisdom Father, and never let me lose sight of you as we wade these living waters together. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you... the Fisher of Men, and the ever-present Father whose loving hand never leaves His children, nor His Son.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes