Soul Snare

Can you think of one person you know that does not have some kind of scandal in their life or family? Everyone has a skeleton in their closet somewhere. Satan, and his host of demons would be failing at their job and purpose if anyone, anywhere is spared from temptation; “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psalm 14:2 & 3). The Apostle Paul repeated those words in Romans 3:10-12.

Everywhere you turn on planet earth traps are set. Jesus said: “It is impossible but that offenses will come; but woe unto him, through whom they come” (Luke 17:1). The word “offenses” was translated into English from the Greek word “skandalon.” Can you see where the word “scandal” came from? The word “offense” means “a trap stick, a bent sapling, a snare, a cause of displeasure or sin, an occasion to fall (of stumbling), a thing that offends” (Strong’s Concordance, Greek Dictionary word 4625.) Every human has a weakness of some kind. Do you know what yours are? The devil and his demons have a job to do. They use bait of some kind to trap us in whatever kind of situations they know we will be tricked and go after. It’s universal. Humans learn by experience. If we haven’t been through a situation for ourselves we really don’t have knowledge or understanding of it, and we can be easily trapped, or snared.

My family and I watched the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” recently. It showed a vast number of these “snares” that people get caught up in. It showed how accurate the Bible is when it says “none good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). The devil’s goal is to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). His job is to steal our life, to kill our body, to destroy our reputation or our influence to help others avoid the offenses that are everywhere. He is the master-trapper. He’s been at it ever since the first man was created. He knows all the traps because he invented them. I love to read the Proverbs every day. The writer said they were written down to teach people how to act, how to live in every circumstance, to help people learn to be just, and fair in everything they do, and to warn young men about many of the problems/snares they will face (read Proverbs 1:1-6). If you’ve not been trapped yet, please hear the warning to “be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Your day to have a scandal has either already come, or else it’s coming.

Matthew 13:41 says; “The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend (every trap/snare).” Jesus will gather up, and destroy every offense some day, but until He does we can’t let our guard down for a second, or we’ll be trapped and destroyed.

Written by the Reverend Denny Smith, founder of Christian Love Ministries in Murphy, NC