Last summer, when I was fourteen, our family spent a week in a little cabin that was close to a beautiful lake. My brothers, sisters and I had a great time swimming in the lake. Unknown to us, however, a fishhook was caught in the rope of the raft that we swam from.
There are attractive places to have fun, just like that raft. Satan likes to lure us there and catch us on one of his hidden hooks of sin. “As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time” (Ecclesiastes 9:1212For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. (Ecclesiastes 9:12)).
We swam in the lake for several days, climbing on and off the raft, before someone got caught on the fishhook, and that someone was me! At first I tried to shake it off, but all I did was make the barb dig deeper into my ankle. Ouch! Now I was really stuck, and since my leg was underwater, I couldn’t get the fishhook out by myself.
Since I couldn’t help myself, I called to my older sister. She was happy to help out.
When you and I realize that Satan has “caught” us in the trap of sin, we also need to understand that it is a deadly trap and that we cannot help ourselves. But there is always help nearby; the Lord Jesus is waiting to hear our call for help. “Surely [the Lord] shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler” (Psalm 91:33Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. (Psalm 91:3)).
It was no problem for my sister to get the fishhook out of my ankle and then throw it away. But when the Lord Jesus came to save us, He had to die on the cross to set us free from our sins. He bore the punishment there for the sins of every person who calls to Him with their need, and He removes those sins out of His sight forever. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:1212As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)).
ML-06/08/2014