Bass Fishing

• Printable Version - Share on Facebook - Posted by Dion Todd October 4, 2015 - Filed in Devotional - 10,802 views
  Let no man say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God,' for God can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.' James 1:13 WEB
  
  I had been fishing hard all morning but had caught nothing. It was almost noon when I decided to cast my line one more time and then head back to the hill empty handed. Right after the lure sank into the water, I felt a slight bump. I thought it might have been a log, but just in case, I took the slack out of the line and yanked back on the rod to set the hook.
  
  Whatever it was did not budge at all and I thought the line was hung, but then' slowly it started moving off to the right. I held on tight and in few minutes a seven-pound large mouth bass danced by the boat on its tail. I fought it for what seemed like an hour, though I am sure it was just a few minutes before it gave up and I wrestled him into the boat.
  
  All morning I had cast lures in front of fish, but they would not bite. They were not hungry for what I had. Finally I found one that was, and I caught it. He passionately went after the bait, hook, line and sinker. In this case, it was a five-inch black plastic worm and the fish wanted it.
  
  James made it clear that nothing outside of you tempts you; it is what is already inside of you that is hungry. Everyone has a different appetite as well. Eve wanted the forbidden fruit. Sex, drugs, pornography, money, eating, drinking and a million other things are not the root of the problem. The problem is that the fish is hungry.
  
  God can take away that desire. At one time I enjoyed smoking. Now, I despise it and It is no longer a temptation for me to be around it. If you are drawn to something like this, pray for the Lord to deliver you from it. When the hunger is gone, it will no longer tempt you even if it appears right in front of you like a lure before a fish. If he is not hungry, he will not bite.
  
  Prayer: Father, remove the desires from me that are not right and deliver me from things that drag me down each time. I want to serve You, but there are still things in me that do not. Help my desire line up with Yours, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.