The Fisherman

Perseverance is key.

Zygi

I was intrigued by the name ‘Zygi’ when I first read it on a brown signpost. Having driven past it on numerous occasions, I veered off the motorway one morning and decided to follow the signs. Sure enough, the winding route led me past a Cypriot camel farm and eventually to the still, peaceful coastal enclave of Zygi.

I parked the car in a spacious car park and headed towards the picture-postcard harbour. Then I spotted the fisherman.

The Task

There he was, seated in his boat, absorbed in untangling his nets as the world passed him by. It was already over 30 degrees and I marvelled at how he was fully clad in the intense heat, intently focused on this delicate task. Never lifting his head, he was oblivious to my camera and to all that was happening around him. How long, I wondered, would he sit there?

Called to Persevere

What a picture of patience and endurance in the heat of the day! At times, many Christians feel like giving up under the duress of stressful, demanding lives. There is an increasing tendency nowadays for prominent believers to renounce their faith. Are they becoming entangled, like the fisherman’s nets, in doubt and despair?

The Bible reminds us that perseverance produces character (Romans 5:4). Christian character is not formed overnight, but is a process of incorporating godly attributes into our behaviour:

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

2 Peter 1:5-7

These characteristics take time to develop and to put into practice. As Christians, it is our calling to embrace these qualities with the perseverance and assiduity of the fisherman in Zygi! Let us not become distracted from the task at hand, but let us grow into mature followers of Christ who will never give up.