On most nights, you can find a fishing show on our living room television as my husband settles on the couch after work. Last night, I was laying with my head in his lap really not watching, but “listening”. I was enjoyed a back rub and relaxing with my eyes closed. I don’t remember the lure they were talking about or the context on which it was being mentioned, but this is what I heard:
“Fish can spot your lure from 30-40 ft away.” Now, I had forgotten that I heard those words until just a few minutes ago when I was reading through James 1 again. Today, I focused on verses 9-16.
Verse 14 was brought to my attention by a friend earlier today, so my heart was already meditating on it, but as I got home and sat down to really dig deeper, those words I heard on that fishing show jumped from the hidden corners of my mind as I read through the verses.
Verse 14 says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
It was written as to like bait thrown from a boat to lure a fish for catching. Isn’t that how sin starts? We take our eyes off God and put our undivided attention on something else. We usually can recognize sin from afar…like that bass with a lure…it’s pretty, it dances around in front of us offering us temporary satisfaction and we so often rush towards it and open our mouth for a bite! We all know what happens next. We are like that fish..hooked! Why are we so quick to be attracted to the desires of the flesh when we say we are devoted followers of God? Maybe because our faith is weakened by a superficial relationship with the one who has saved us from ourselves? Maybe because we think what this world has to offer is better than the richness and blessings of our Father?
As believers, we must not be lured and drawn away from our God. We must choose to be steadfast in faith, keeping our eyes on Him. Satan’s job is to steal, kill and destroy. He will use lies and trickery to get your eyes fixed on the sin that spins around you. Keep your eyes fixed ahead in the water, my little fishy. There’s a big lake out there full of the blessings of God for your life. Just because we can see the sin and it looks good, doesn’t mean we need to swim towards it. Resist the temptations placed before you and swim towards life and the abundance of a relationship with the God of the universe. That’s worth catching!
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