…and I don’t mean these guys!
Tempting is defined as “causing an urge or desire to have or to do something.” We all face it at some point in time. Big temptations like the subject of Proverbs 7…adultery by a cunning woman luring in a young, naive man while her husband is out of town…and then those small temptations of all your friends enjoying a huge chocolate cupcake while you are trying to watch your ever-growing figure. Temptations are all around us. As I was reading, I couldn’t help put picture this cute little worm on a hook luring the big fish to take a bite of her…batting her eyelashes as he swims by. The fish sees a tasty meal, seemingly unaware that she is sitting on a hook attached to a rod of a skilled fisherman waiting to sink it deep in his mouth as soon as he feels a little nibble on that line! I can just picture that fish with his mouth wide open…eyes big as saucers as he opens up to take a bite! He doesn’t see the danger because he is enticed by his desire to fill his belly with a fat, juicy worm that is batting her eyelashes and waving him in with her wiggle!
Isn’t that why we fall into temptation most times? We have this desire to fill ourselves with something. That’s how sin hooks us! We are distracted with only what we can see, not what may be lurking underneath or behind. It looks good at the initial glance, but usually if we swim around it a little bit and examine closer, we are able to determine if something is good for us or not. Sometimes we may not know…so that’s why it is important to keep God’s Word close to our gills! It should be like the air we breathe…the apple of our eye (Proverbs 7:2). Meaning, you should cherish it above all other things! When we do that, we aren’t so easily distracted and we are tempted to fill ourselves with the eternal things of the Lord instead of the temporal desires of this world! This world will wiggle around, bat it’s lashes and entice you to think you don’t need Jesus…you don’t need to follow God’s Word…but I am here to tell you, that with every hook you bite down on you are taking a chance of getting caught and thrown into a “livewell”. That livewell isn’t made to sustain a fish, but to keep it alive until it can end up as a trophy on someone’s wall or on a dinner plate somewhere. God wants more for you than that. He wants to nourish you, sustain you and prosper you through His Word! You are worth more than what this world tries to convince you that you are. Don’t allow temptation to lure you in, because you aren’t swimming deep into a relationship with God. Get hooked on Him. That’s a bite that will fill your spirit!
