WALKING, STANDING, SITTING... TRAPPED
PSALM 1:1
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
My dad loved to trap. He did it as a kid to afford to buy things for the family. He never had the time after that until after retirement. I wish I had gotten out with him more often. One of the times I did get out, I remember we made some sets for bobcats. He showed me how to make the sets. There is something that I remember that struck me as so close to how we fall into sinful situations and Christians.
In front of the baited trap he would hang a feather that would blow in the wind. This feather was there to catch the attention of the passing cat. We've all heard the old saying, "curiosity killed the cat". That was the plan with the feather swinging around in front of the trap.
A bobcat is a very patient animal... Once you got his attention he would stop walking and stand looking at the feather. Soon he would sit down and look around assessing situation. He might sit there for hours and just watch. After a while his curiosity would get the best of him and he would move forward and then he was trapped.
What an amazing example of how we fall into sin. The verse above shows a progression into sin... we walk or step into a wicked situation (we're attracted to something), then we stop and stand, contemplating the temptation. Then after standing there for a while we we move right in and we're caught.
Satan knows exactly what to hang along our path to catch our attention. He knows that if he can get us to stop as opposed to continuing to walk past the obvious temptation, we're almost caught.
We need to turn our eyes and heart away from the temptation that is set in front of us. Then we need to keep on walking away from the situation. Once we take the time to stop, look and sit down in the situation, it's generally too late.
The book of Proverbs speaks to being trapped by sin throughout the text. In the first 4 verses of chapter 7, we are told to; "keep my words, store up my commands, keep my commands, guard my teachings, Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart." (Proverbs 7:1-4)
If we maintain a steady input of God's word and hold those teachings tightly, and if we continually walk with others that love the Lord, we will more easily find the strength to walk past the attractant, the bait that is there to draw us into the snare of the one attempting to trap us.
Keep walking, don't stop, stand and sit at the trap.
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