Posts Tagged: James 1:12-15

“Bait or Poison?”

On May 3, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer


A good friend of mine is struggling with an invasion of ants.  This is not unusual this time of years.  She and her husband have put out lots of ant bait, but it is taking a while for all the ants to get the message that they are not welcome.

She wasn’t sure if the “bait” was working or not.  I commented that it takes some time.  And then I added, “They call it bait, but it’s really poison!”

Immediately, my mind went to James 1:12-15.

“12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (English Standard Version)

Apparently, people in James’ day (about two thousand years ago) were prone to blaming God for their evil.  Imagine that!  I’m sure glad that we don’t do that these days!

James is very mathematical at this point;

Desire                                     Sin                                             Death    

And it’s something we do to ourselves.

Of course, we wouldn’t (hopefully) do this on purpose.  We don’t necessarily start out desiring our own death.

And, of course, not all desires are wrong.  But when we indulge wrong desires, or even right desires excessively, we set the chain in motion.  Like the ants in my friend’s house, if we take the bait, we have taken the poison.  We can call it bait, but it’s still poison.

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