Lesson One: The Hook
Facing upstream while suspended almost motionless in a deep pool, an old catfish looked over the school of minnows before him. As he began to speak, the great catfish slowly motioned with one pectoral fin toward a large black metal object partially buried in the mud below. “Do you see that? That is a frying pan and that is where you will end up if you don’t pay attention to what I have to tell you. The enemy uses fire to make these frying pans real hot. Then they cook you in them.”
With every minnow eye upon him, the catfish slowly rose up toward a piece of metal embedded in the log above his lecture hall. The professor continued, “Your first problem is the hook. That is what catches you and doesn’t let you get away.”
At this point, one little minnow made the mistake of muttering out loud, “Well if that’s what a hook is I’ll never get caught. I don’t even like metal!” The professor stared at the cocky and ignorant little minnow while continuing, “the enemy makes the evil hook look good. The enemy will try to create a desire within you for the hook. You see, the enemy can’t make you bite the hook, but he can make it appear attractive. The enemy will hide the hook inside of something that will give you immediate pleasure. If you act on the impulses of your desires - you’re a dead fish!”
People are intelligent enough to know how to catch fish. But how smart are people when the tables are turned? Do we know how to be "smart fish?" Do we do any better than a bluegill?
Satan knows that you won’t willingly jump into his frying pan of death, nor will you casually walk up and willingly sink the roof of your mouth onto a deadly hook. Satan’s job is to make sin look “desirable.” And he knows just the type of worm you like. As James put it, “Each one is tempted when he is lured by his own evil desires, and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:14-15
To be a smart fish requires knowing how the enemy works. Sin gets its foot in the door when we start believing Satan’s lies, such as “it can’t be wrong when it feels so right” or “it’s OK if everybody is doing it.” Then as the deception is ingested, it creates powerful desires making “the hook” look good not evil. Biting on the hook often gives immediate pleasure as one “gets the worm,” but then its too late. Satan merely smiles as he begins to reel in another dumb bluegill. "I've caught another one!"
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998
Other Articles Which May Be of Interest:
A Photograph Does Not Lie. Oh Yeah?
Counseling Help For People Who Have Been Hooked
Our Decisions and Values Create "Life Momentum"
What is the Christian Thing to Do?