Bait and Hook

"Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.''  Ephesians 6:11

       Do you know what many of the Lord's disciples did for a living? They were fishermen. Jesus sometimes went with them on their fishing trips and He fished, too. In those days, just as now, there were two ways to fish. Sometimes they used a net and caught a great many at once. One night the disciples went out and fished till almost morning and didn't catch a thing. It was time to go home and they had no fish to carry to the market and sell, so that they could have money to buy food and clothes for their families. Just then Jesus came along the shore. He told them to cast the net on the other side of the ship. They did as He told them, and caught so many fish that there was not room for them all in the boat.
       Then they used to fish with a hook and line as we do. Once Jesus and Peter needed a little money to pay their taxes. They were very poor men, and when the tax collector came around they didn't have enough to pay him. Jesus told Peter to take his rod and line, and go to the lake, and to look in the mouth of the first fish that he caught. Scarcely had Peter dropped the bait in the water when he had a fine bite and hooked a big fish. He was so excited getting that fish to land, that I imagine he forgot for the moment what Jesus had sent him for, but when he opened the mouth of the fish to take the hook out, there was the money, just enough to pay the tax for Jesus and for him.
       When Jesus asked the disciples to follow Him, He told them that they were going to be fishers of men. Instead of catching fish and bringing them to market, they were to find men and bring them to Jesus. That is just what the church is doing. We are trying to be fishers of men. Sometimes we bring a large number at once as the fishermen do when they use the net, but mostly it is like using the hook and line: they come one by one.
       One of the first things necessary to fish successfully is to have some bait. God has given us the bait to use when we fish for men: good deeds, and loving words, and the Bible and prayer and the church and Sunday school! These are all baits which we can use in bringing others to Jesus.
       Satan is a fisherman, too. A great man once said that Satan is the ape of God. Whatever God does, he tries to do for an evil purpose. He uses bait, and he is trying every day to catch boys and girls.
       One bait that Satan uses is play. Play is a fine thing. Children must have play. But there are some games and amusements that are baits which Satan has fixed up to catch them with. We should be very careful in our recreation and play that we are not led into evil.
       Then there are our books. We could not do without our books. They are necessary to us. We learn from them every day, and hey give us pleasure and profit. But there are some books that Satan is using as bait to get men and women and boys and girls. Be- fore we read a book we ought to be sure that we know just what kind of a book it is, we ought to look and see that Satan's hook isn't sticking in it somewhere.
       Then there are our companions. Everybody loves good company. We would not be happy if we did not have some companions. Old Satan knows this and he tries to catch us and make us do evil, by means of bad company.
       There was once an old fish, very wise, who said to one of the young fish, " Before you bite anything go all around it and see that there is no hook sticking into it anywhere."
       Money is another of Satan's baits. There was a bad criminal once who confessed that his evil life had started when he was very young. He had been employed as an office-boy. Someone left a quarter lying on a desk, and went away and forgot about it. Satan came and tempted that boy to steal the money. He took it. That was the be- ginning of a life of evil. Satan used that money as the bait to catch him.
       When we catch a fish on the hook he hasn't much chance to get away. If Satan gets us with his bait we will have a hard time to escape. So let us all be very careful. S. N. Hutchison

What to do when your're tempted as a Kid!