Freddie was having a grand time on his holidays. He was staying with his father and mother in a cabin by a beautiful lake. And that was just what Freddie wanted, for he loved to fish. He didn’t have a very expensive fishing rod with a fancy reel, but just a line and a hook on the end of a bamboo pole.
He was steeping one night when the sound of something crying woke him up. Slipping out of bed he found his flashlight and ran quickly to the door. What a strange sight he saw! There was his pole leaning against the side of the cabin, and at the end of the line his kitten was caught. She was pawing at her mouth as she tried to pull away from the hook, but of course the more she pulled the more she hurt herself.
Kneeling beside her Freddie quickly and carefully loosened the hook from her sore mouth. When at last she was free she crept away and curled up into a little ball in a dark corner. Perhaps she was wondering why that nice smelling little fish had hurt her mouth so!
No doubt the kitten would never have tried to eat the bait if she had known that there was a sharp hook hidden inside of it. Do you know, boys and girls, that Satan has baits which he is using to catch you with?
Some of his baits are: “Don’t hurry to be saved now—wait until you are older,” and another, “You can have a lot more fun if you don’t get saved.” These, and many others, he whispers into the ears of young people, and then, too, he uses bad habits to catch people; but inside of each bait is the sharp hook of sin from which we can never get away by ourselves.
The Lord Jesus wants to save you and set you free if you will come to Him and trust Him. God says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36).
ML 04/08/1951