I have been at “Funny River Fishing Lodge” for three days now, have only fished for a couple of hours so far, and have caught one limit of six sockeye salmon. The run is just starting, and I had some work to do on my boat to get it ready for fishing. I was planning on fishing for Halibut today, but we had a 7.3 earthquake and a tsunami warning for the area I fish, so I slept in this morning. About a dozen guys are showing up today and tomorrow who will fish here next week. I will take them out in my boat, halibut fishing three at a time, and also help the novices to rig up and teach them how to fish for sockeye salmon. It is a unique system of fishing that is difficult to do until you get the hang of it. We fish for salmon from the bank on the Kenai River in Soldotna. I have come up and fished in Alaska for 25 years, which is one of the year’s highlights for me. Fishing is like bicycling because there is much time for reflective thinking. I have a list of things that I consciously set my mind on to meditate on while I am fishing. God, passages in the Bible, my future, goals, dreams, desires, my weak areas, and what I need to do to grow, family members, praying for them, sermons, and heaven.

I work hard at not just daydreaming and letting my mind do what it wants. About a dozen verses in the Bible emphasize choosing what we think about. We change our behavior by changing what we think about. The devil focuses on our minds as he tempts us, and our minds left on their own gravitate to selfishness, worry, critical judgment, immorality, and covetousness. Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Scripture memory is the best discipline to train our minds to be servants instead of the boss in our lives. I spend 40 minutes daily memorizing, reviewing, and meditating on Bible verses. Make a goal to establish this habit and discipline in your life.