November 23, 2021
In the last devotional, I shared about my ongoing war with the mice that had taken up residency in our food storage closet at the church. At first, the little vermin were winning the battles and getting all of the peanut butter and cheese without springing the mousetrap. I caught one and have now caught a couple more.
I think that the reason that I caught the first one was that he/she got real comfortable coming and eating the peanut butter/cheese and it finally cost it. I could see it having a conversation with the other mice. “Hey guys there is peanut butter (And later cheese) right inside the door at the closet. All that you have to do is just go and be very careful and you can get it all.”
So he/she continues to be careful and get the food and then it starts to let its guard down. It thinks less and less about the danger and more and more about the tasty morsel sitting on the end of the trap. After all, nothing bad has happened in the past. And then – WHAM – The trap is sprung and life as it knows it is over.
Perhaps when it first started to get the peanut butter and then cheese it was so small that it didn’t even weigh enough to spring the trap. But as it ate more and more free food it became heavier and moved slower so in the end it cost him/her its life. The more comfortable that it got with the temptation the more likely that it was going to end up dead.
Perhaps the other mice saw the first one get caught and killed. But they said, “That will never happen to me. I am smarter than the guy who got caught. I will learn from his mistakes.” But they don’t and eventually, they also let their guard down and get caught in the same trap that their friend/relative did.
The traps that Satan lay for us are a lot like this. We see temptation and know that there is danger but we try it anyway with extreme caution. When nothing bad happens we try it again and again until we become unafraid and comfortable doing what we know is dangerous and deadly.
The Bible says that “sin’s pleasure is only for a season” (Hebrews 11:25). Then it’s over, leaving us bitter, and finally destroying us. A day of reckoning always comes. The Bible says, “Be sure your sin will find you out” and “The wages of sin is death” If you are playing around with the trap of sin and it doesn’t bother you anymore, then you need to ask God to convict you so that you can repent and turn away from this before it destroys you.
It WILL be found out and then the trap is sprung and you have to suffer the consequences. So turn away from it now before it is too late. God is patient with you and merciful but He will allow you to face the punishment and consequences when you chose to fall into Satan’s traps.
Those consequences of falling for the enemy’s trap may be felt down here in many different ways but more importantly, they will be felt for all eternity if you don’t confess them and receive forgiveness for them. Also, you need to repent and turn away from the traps and ask God to guide your steps away from the traps so that you can enjoy the abundant life that God provides not only here but for all eternity.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs