Taking the Bait

I am writing this blog post from Sasha’s childhood home in Kostenets located in near Rila, the largest and most majestic mountain on the Balkan Peninsula.  It is a quiet town, especially on a Sunday like today, and we often come here to visit family and relax.

My nephew went fishing this morning at a local pond.  His bait of choice was corn, and it worked well.  He came back with a catch of four impressive trout suitable for several meals worth of delicious meat.

Standing over the backyard sink he decapitated the fish and cleaned them.  As he sliced the belly of each fish, the contents of its stomach spilled out.  Blood and guts were mixed with their last meal, corn.

In our lives, we come across our own bait situations.  They come as temptations to do no good.  Like the corn for the fish, they may look delicious, but they turn out to be harmful or even deadly to us.

It is more tempting to take the bait when we think we will not get caught.  Theft, lying, gossip, and cheating are all so much more appealing when there appears to be no consequence attached (or at least no consequence for us).  Concealed sins are the easiest to commit.  Yet in reality there is no such thing.

Jesus once said, “There is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”  When the fish was cut open, it was obvious that he and taken the bait.  In the same way, there will be a day when all that we have done will be brought out into the open.

The fish had an excuse.  He did not know better.  We are without excuse.  Let us live our lives with integrity.  Do not take the bait.