“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are [drawn out] by their own evil desire and enticed.” James 1:13-14

Every year on Father’s Day weekend, I pack up the family and we head to a favorite fishing spot at a top secret, undisclosed lake-location somewhere in Northern Virginia. We enjoy a picnic lunch, bird watching, fishing and then a late afternoon refreshing plunge into the cool water. This year, we even saw a bear!

Now, I’m not much of a fisherman, but I did quite a bit of pond fishing as a kid and I know the basic mechanics: 1. bait the hook 2. cast into the water 3. make the bait (whether an artificial lure, wiggling worm, or just a hunk of bread) look as attractive as possible 4. wait for a substantial nibble… 5. pull the line to set the hook and finally 6. reel in the fish!

So, Sunday afternoon after eating lunch, I unpacked the fishing gear, distributed the rods to the kids and then picked a favorite spot and began to fish. My second or third cast, I felt a big nibble and thought for sure I had set the hook for a nice fish. But no…the fish let go and when I reeled in my line, I discovered that the bait was gone. The fish had eaten my little wiggling, rubber salamander right off my hook. “Well… hope he doesn’t get indigestion!”, I thought and went on to fish at other spots on the lake.

Later in the afternoon, I returned to my original spot and did a few final casts and to my surprise I caught a nice little bass. After a super fun day of fishing and swimming, I had the less pleasant task of cleaning the fish. I’ll spare you the details, but as I cleaned one of the fish, I discovered a little rubber salamander down the throat of one of the fish. I had caught the same fish twice…once at the beginning of the day, once at the end. Two things I now know: 1. fish really do have short memories and 2. this little fellow really liked rubber salamanders.

The Bible paints a similar picture of temptation. The enemy knows our flesh and how to entice us. He often personalizes our bait in an effort to trap us. A wise Christian understands how his flesh is wired and remembers BEFORE temptation hits, that sin may look attractive, but it has a cruel hook within. So when the enemy dangles that bait in front of you…remember, however appealing it may appear, sin no longer has power over you (Romans 6:14); and if you bite it, the sting of that hook will soon remind you that sin and the Christian are no longer compatible (Romans 6:11). Don’t take the enemy’s bait!