I went fishing last week and though I didn’t catch any fish, I learned more about how life's temptations that can trip up and snare a person. 

I was fishing from the bridge over the river and letting my newest expensive lure float in the swift current over some choice water holes that I have caught nice C and R trout.  Even though the river flow had changed due a lesser amount of flowing water, the holes are still deep and the bigger fish love to wait in those holes to eat any food that may float in the current. One of the deep holes was near a submerged log, but I had been able to get my lure to either float under or over the log and not snag onto the hidden trap. 

I hadn’t caught any fish for over an hour and I was becoming impatient with my inactive game and lack of fishing excitement.  In my haste, I ignored a very distinct thought to be careful or my lure would hook into the submerged log.  I let my line out just a little further than I had been hoping to get into the first deeper hole just before the submerged log. I knew that I could catch a fish in that hole, because I had just caught a huge trout a few days earlier using that technique. As I threw my line into the swift current, I had visions in my mind of catching another huge golden German Brown Trout. It all seemed too easy to do and I was easily tempted to disregard the threat of today’s lower and swifter current, but the vision I had over rode caution. 

Suddenly, my lure caught, and I couldn’t free it.  I lost my lure that day.  As I drove my car back down the canyon highway, I punished myself for not listening to the thought that I should be careful.  This was my second loss in a month and I thought that I am too poor to keep buying expensive lures. 

As I headed my car west on the highway the sun’s rays hindered my ability see the road, but once I entered a shadowy portion of the highway, it became easier to see the road.  I was grateful to be able to see the road again. I thought that not paying attention to the thought of caution is much like driving a car with the sun’s blinding rays blocking your vision. It is similar to refusing to pay attention to the prompting of the Holy Ghost and falling into sinful habits.  Being able to see the road again is similar to a renewed resolve of being obedient to the promptings of the spirit. 

Aesop, that master storyteller of old wrote:

"A jar of honey was upset in a housekeeper's room, and a number of flies were attracted by its sweetness. Placing their feet in it, the flies ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and they suffocated. Just as they were dying, they exclaimed, “Oh, foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves.”

The next time I go fishing; I will pay attention to a prompting to be careful of the river’s traps.

Tags: Temptation Patience Caution

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