Sunday, May 22, 2016

Fish Bait

The guys are getting their boats ready again, and talk of finding that great fishing spot on the lake is firing up! I have a couple of friends that absolutely get each other rolling on talk of getting out to Devil’s Lake to find some walleye. It’s fun going with them and learning various setups and the bait or lures necessary to catch the big fish.

On one occasion, I walked into a bait shop and was dazzled by all of the lures and their packaging; spinners, spoons, live bait, hooks, beads, buzz bait, crank bait, and more! I chuckled to myself, thinking "I’ll bet they catch more fishermen than they do fish with all of this!” There are some pretty ingenious lures that have been concocted, but out of the great variety there are some common traits about the bait…

A fishing lure is designed to trick the fish by a variety of methods. Some lures are shiny to attract attention, others feature life-like movements, while others are made to exploit a fish’s watery sense of smell. Lures imitate the “real thing” but they have a nasty bite. They are equipped with hooks that bite into the flesh of their unsuspecting victim with a hold that will not let go. That which appeared to be a tasty treat becomes a means to their capture and eventual death.

The book of 1 John warns of worldly lures that seek to grab our attention by imitating the real thing. In chapter two, verses 16 and 17, the Apostle John writes, “For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” A worldly system of philosophy and endeavor finds it necessary to replace the reality of God’s glory and worthiness with a lure of its own making. These lures are also known as temptation.

We are daily tempted to pursue the "desires of the flesh"- those things that claim to satisfy our search for physical pleasure. We are daily drawn by the "desires of the eyes”- the constant search for bigger, better, faster, more… and social media, television, radio and advertising call out to tell us that the elusive mother lode is just around the corner. We regularly face temptation from “pride in possessions”- which is a very subtle self-satisfaction we derive when we place our confidence in the things we own.

All of these lures come with a significant hook. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but the ends thereof is death”. Things that are temporary cannot satisfy eternally. Things that are corrupt in nature cannot please our holy Creator. Our hope, the “real thing” that will eternally satisfy our souls, can be found in the God who gives us every good thing as a gift. Author and pastor, John Piper, is famously quoted as saying, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Victory over temptation comes when we value and cherish God, and everything He is, more than the imitations that beckon us to distraction, destruction and death. Drugs, alcohol abuse, illicit relationships, gambling, acquisitions, bank accounts, and the rest will never be able to eternally satisfy. But, by God’s grace and by the power of His Spirit, we can overcome the false hope of temptation, and pursue the reality of new life in Christ.





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