KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Snare
I AM NOT a hunter...
In fact, no one could be more removed from that world than I. However, a couple of years ago a friend took me to his hunting club to check on the "food plots." Of course, I had no idea what these were, but I quickly realized that they existed to lure unsuspecting deer to the shooting area by using their need for food. Wow! Who knew that eating could get you killed? (Unless, of course, you have watched any of the Godfather trilogy...)
When you think about it, the idea is brilliant: use the animal's basic needs and instincts to entrap it.
The idea is not original. Anyone ever read Genesis 3? The serpent introduces Eve and Adam to the concept of self-will and, through it, the failure of humanity.
The adversary is still at it today, and he uses the same strategy. Why would he need something new when the original works so well? Most of our disappointments, failures and shortcomings are the result of this same trap. I have never met a person who gets up one morning and says, "Today, I will make a mess of my life!" Life destruction should never be a conscious choice. That said, why do we so often find ourselves caught and entangled in the web of sin? Scripture tells us that the adversary "prowls the earth looking and watching..." To makes matters worse, he understands our weaknesses and knows how to exploit them.
Jesus prayed in Matthew 6, "lead us not into temptation" (v. 13). This has always been a curious verse to me. Would God purposefully do that to God's children? No, but through our basic needs and desires, we often do it to ourselves. And the adversary is glad to give us a little shove. When we walk with the Lord, He can through Scripture show us the traps (i.e., food plots), even when they look appetizing and inviting... (Shane Standford, Ronnie Kent)
KneEmail: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." James 1:13-14
Bible reading for 01.12.10: Matthew 9:1-17; Genesis 29, 30
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