You know the old saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish, and he eats for life?”

“Sure. I’ve heard that many times.”

Well, there’s a new twist on it.”

“Oh? Haven’t heard that.”

It goes like this: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish, and he’ll be missing on weekends.”

“Pretty good.”

Ah, but there’s a lesson in it.

“Tell me about it.”

You see, the old proverb meant that if you give him a handout he’ll never learn to take responsibility for himself the way that he ought to.

“I can see that. How about the ‘new twist?'”

Well, you see, the lazy individual not only avoids the responsibility, expecting the handout, but—along with it—he also expects to have a good time, instead of fulfilling that responsibility.

“Wow! That’s our culture, for sure!”

It certainly is. Entertainment, sports, TV, movies, Internet—you name it! These are the things that people spend their money and their time—indeed, their lives—focusing on.

But the Christian life should include responsibility. And, in addition, what a Christian does should pass the test of Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is serious, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is anything morally praiseworthy, focus your thinking on these things.

“Is it OK to fish?”

Yes. But not to substitute fishing or anything else for the things listed above.