Missionary Arnold Skelton told of an interesting way that natives capture primates. Many hunters use their skill with bow and arrow, blowguns, and spears to kill monkeys. However, some clever hunters have figured out a way that monkeys can trap themselves.
The hunter would scour the jungle looking for the right-sized, wild gourd. It would have to be large-sized and big around the middle. After the gourd had dried for several weeks, he would then cut a two-inch hole in the side and a smaller one in the top, where a rope could be put through the gourd, and it could be hung from a tree. He would then take the insides out of the gourd, leaving an empty hard-shelled trap that he would use to catch a monkey dinner.
After finding the right place in the jungle where there were plenty of monkeys, he would hang his trap from a tree. In the center of the gourd-trap, he would place several handfuls of peanuts and then leave his monkey-catcher.
In a short time, the curious creatures would scamper over to see what the man had left behind. A quick glance and a long sniff would reveal to the monkeys that one of their favorite foods was conveniently close by — and easy to get!
One monkey would venture first. He would look the gourd over well. The gourd was a common sight to the creature and would not rouse many questions, and inside he would discover wonderful, plump peanuts. What more could a monkey ask for?
Into the gourd would venture one monkey’s hand, grasp one or two peanuts, and then slowly, he would ease out his hand. Easy pickings! He got a handful, and they were so good!
Perhaps another monkey saw how easily it was done. He, too, wanted his share. In would go his little hand, and not wanting to miss out on this free deal (“Why, some of the other monkeys may go next and not leave any more for him!”), he would grab as many as he could get. His hand was now too big to get back out of the hole. When he tried to pull back his hand, it would not come out through the gourd’s hole. His hand was stuck.
He would pull and pull, but to no avail. He was caught. There seemed to be no way out. His own selfishness had bound him to the trap. It would never dawn on him to let go of the peanuts. There he would be captured until the hunter would return and easily kill the monkey.
So many people are in a similar trap. It may not be a lust for peanuts that has them bound, but it may be bondage to cigarettes, drinking, drugs, lying, adultery, stealing, or some other sin that has them caught.
At first, the sin looked harmless to them. “Everyone was doing it, and it seemed to be okay.” Finally, sin’s noose tightened, and there was no longer any fun or enjoyment in the sin.
It has them caught. There seems no escape from the terrible wage (and there always is at least one) of the sin. There is. Let go, before it is too late! “Oh, it’s easy to say, but harder to do,” many claim the excuse.
There is only one way to escape the consequences of sin, and that is to leave it. No person can do it for you, nor any support group. No pill will take sin’s grip away. No good work will erase it. You have to break the bind. The sin has to be stopped. The longer it continues, the stronger its grip.
“Well, I can’t stop this sin.” Well, maybe YOU can’t. There is, however, another way to get the victory. This way is to call upon the Lord to help you. He is able to help you get the victory over this world, its traps, and snares. You must trust in Him to show you the way out.
Here are some Bible verses about letting go and letting God help you get the victory over the devices of this world: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13
“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10 “
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” II Corinthians 12:10
The only way you will know His will and way is if you read His book. His Word is exactly that; His words. It is a book with the preserved plans of God to help you through life. You will never get the victory unless you obey it.
Yes, little monkey there is a way out of your predicament. Let go and let your Heavenly Father help release you from sin’s bondage.
“In diving to the bottom for pleasures, we bring up more gravel than pearls.” — Author Unknown
This statement is excellent
“His own selfishness had bound him to the trap.”
I would say that one could change the word to Lust and a lot of other things could be inserted in that sentence in place of selfishness. In fact, you all will recall that Paul shared a pretty comprehensive list in his epistle to the Galatians: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.
Isn’t it often true however that the trap becomes unnecessary? Like the condition known as “Stockholm Syndrome” where victims of kidnapping develop sympathy for their captors, the person eventually loses their will and become part of the sin. One might call it demonic oppression or even possession. At some point, the trap is not needed. I have watched this time and again. Satan uses bait, the person becomes trapped, and eventually becomes owned.
It is a somber warning you have given.
What a wonderful devotion.. Thank Bro Brinkworth.
Bro. Bill, do you write the devotion on Matthew too? If so, I enjoy that! I also enjoy reading The Bible View.
Yes, I have written a commentary on every book of the New Testament. It used to be in the format that DevotionsForTheBible.com is in (blog format), but because of a serious hackers problem, I had to manually put it in the format it is in. From the Daily View page, you can still access on N. T. books from the drop-down box at the top of the page.
We all have at least one sin that we cant seem to let go and if we say we don’t then we are not telling the truth .
You are right. A Christian is forgiven, but as long as we are in this body, we will sin. We will battle it until we go home.