have i got a deal for you...

james 1:14 (nrsv), each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

there was a cartoon on the editorial page of the li newsday paper today that had 2 guys in a prison cell. one guys was saying, "lemme get this straight – i give you one cigarette and next week you guarantee me ten?" and the other guy says, "it’s that simple" and the caption is madoff behind bars - day one.

for those of you who don’t watch the news or who don’t live in ny, madoff is a major swindler and he had his day in court yesterday and all that was played up on the tv & paper news was the horrible plight of all those poor people who lost their savings to this man’s scheme. you just wanted to cry.

now here is the problem. those poor innocent people where lured and enticed at making more money without doing any kind of work. they were deceived by their desire for more. and that is what james is warning us about here. if it is too good to be true it probably is.

if you are a fisherman you understand what lure and entice means. the secret of fishing is in the bait, the right kind of bait for the right kind of fish.

now, how many fish will you catch with a bare hook? you've got to put bait on it and the right kind of bait for the right kind of fish.

what kind of bait does the devil use on you? he's got your hot button. he knows your weakness. he knows you inside and out. he knows what turns you on. he knows what you will fall for. he hides the hook in his bait and the bait appeals to your weakness.

now the crazy thing is that often we see the hook and we know it's a temptation but we keep right on nibbling. some people will say to me, "bill, back off. i know what i am doing. i'm an adult. i'm not going to get hurt. i know how far to go." and that person is deceived. they've gone from desire to deception.

it always starts with desire. then satan moves to deception. temptation always looks better than it really is. desire turns to deception and deception turns to disobedience.

it helps me to understand what he is doing. how about you? just some thoughts here on the front porch…