Don't Be Hooked

 


 

As I watched Spongebob Squarepants with my children one night, a good example of how Satan tries to get us popped in my mind. This episode was about Mr. Crab making Spongebob believe he has been caught by a fishing hook. Earlier in the show he warns Spongebob not to play on the fancy hooks, sometimes decorated with cheese, hanging down because they were there just to lure him so he could be caught and turned into a can of tuna. But of course, Spongebob doesn’t listen to him, so Mr. Crab ends up playing a trick on him, causing him to believe he was hooked. That’s a good example of how Satan tries to hook us.

 

Have you ever thought about how Satan is like a fisherman? He would love nothing more than to lure you in and hook you. We have all been tempted, and even Jesus was tempted but he was not hooked.

 

Satan is a good fisherman and he uses these methods when he’s out fishing:

 

  1. He always goes where the fish are. Satan is not omnipresent like God, so he has to decide where and when he is going to go fishing.

 

  1. He finds out what the fish are biting. Once Satan gets to his location, he figures out what will work and goes for it.

 

  1. He’s persistent. Satan doesn’t stop after one try; he continues to go after the fish trying new bait.

 

Let’s look at how to have victory over temptation and not become one of Satan’s catches. First let’s read Luke 4:1-13, which talks about when Jesus was tempted:

 

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone.” The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered, “It says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

 

Satan tempts us at times he feels he can succeed. He comes and tempts us after we have had a high spiritual experience. How many times have you received a word from the Lord and in the next few minutes or so something comes along and almost steals it from you? Jesus had received the approval of His Father who said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” when the enemy decided to drop by. He also comes at us during a time when our body is in a weak state. Remember when Jesus was in the desert he did not eat for those 40 days. Can you imagine the physical strain upon his body? He also comes at us when we are alone. Jesus was alone during that time in the desert, his disciples were not there. That’s why we have to be strong, because we are not always going to have someone around that we can run to and Satan knows that.

 

Satan uses these lures to do two things. The first one is to sin against God. Satan was trying to get Jesus to sin against God so he couldn’t become the ultimate sacrifice for mankind. Satan knows that if he can get us to sin against God, then we can end up in eternal hell to pay the price for our sins. Satan would love that. The second reason is for us to doubt our relationship with God. Remember the devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God” he was attempting to cast doubt about Jesus’ identity and relationship with His Father. He also tries to make us take matters into our own hands instead of depending on God our Father. He tried that with Jesus when he told “HIM” to turn the stone into a piece of bread.

 

Now let’s look at why Jesus didn’t become hooked. First he was ready to reply to the situation with a scripture. That’s the best thing to do when the enemy comes at you, knock him down with a scripture.

 

" I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you and you have overcome the evil one."

 

The second way is He detested sin. If we are ever going to win the battle against sin, we must ask God to take that desire away to the point where even the thought of sin disgusts us.

 

We need to remember that Satan is always going to try and knock us down. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

 

So remember that God won’t allow more than you can bear. Look for a way of escape, it may not always be what you would like, but he’ll make a way. Just like on Spongebob when he got hooked and was being reeled in, his way out was to take his pants off. It wasn’t what he hoped for but it did get him out.

 
From Our Members

 

 

What I learned from this lesson is that Satan is always at work and we need to always be aware and not fall into temptation when he is tempting us.  The temptation is not a sin, but the sin once made brings death with it.

            Satan always goes where there is a way to catch something, he finds out what the fish are biting and he never gives up.  He is persistent but we do not have to permit him to go in.  He is trying to make us sin against God and to doubt our relationship with God, but we need to be ready to reply to that with a scripture and to detest him.  Doing so will overcome that situation and we will not sin. 

            All the Christians who are striving to please God find themselves in a constant battle to resist sinful allurement.  A mature Christian should grow spiritually and increase in patience through the problems that life sometimes presents.  Also the bible teaches us in James 1:13-18 how to handle temptation.  James tells us that God does not tempt us to do evil (verses 13-15).  It is true that Jesus was “tempted in all things as we are”.  It was Jesus’ human side that was tempted to sin. 1 Corinthians 10:13 declares that not only will God “not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able” but it also says He “will provide the way of escape”.  Therefore we cannot blame God for our sinfulness. 

From where then does the impulse to sin come from?  It comes from our desire (emotions), then our will gives way and we actually commit the sin and fall into disobedience (James 1:15).  James says “when lust has been conceived, it gives birth to sin.”  Jesus detested the temptations of Satan by knowing the Word and rejected them by constantly replying “it is written” (Matthew 4).  We may also remember Psalm 119:11 “Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against Thee.”

One of Satan’s main tricks is to convince us that God is holding our on us.  He wants us to think that God is not delivering on His promises to take care of us.  If we doubt God’s goodness, we will be attracted to Satan’s offer.  Remembering the goodness of God helps us to handle temptation (James 1:17).  If we are going to handle temptation correctly as Christians who have received the new birth, we must “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

 

I am Daniela Ciolan, 32 year old Christian woman from Sibiu, Romania.  I attend the Church of Christ.  I am working in a factory where we make pants for women.  My hobbies are to learn more things from the Bible, to speak and make friends from all over the world and to do nature walks and admire it beautiful treasures.  My favorite quote: “Two people can’t hate each other when they both love God.”