blog.optimuschoice.com Death by Bait
It was the first lie, the original lie, the lie that changed everything, and still does. It was and is the lie which is the foundation of all death of any sort, and certainly of spiritual death. The lie is subtle, seemingly innocuous, but make no mistake, it is vulgar, deadly, and grotesque. It is real, it is really present, always looking for the next player to take the bait.
“Did God really say…?” Seems, upon first glance, a sincere question. But if you look closely, you cannot help but acknowledge the dark reality behind the deceit. As the serpent came to Eve, the first one to take the bait which leads to death, he came knowing that the thing which would kill had to contain the allure of self-serving doubt. Doubt, doubting God, specifically, opens the door to Pandoras box. The doubt spoken of, in reality, is a questioning of God’s intentions for us. Once we begin to question that all his precepts, boundaries, and desires are for us, we have taken the bait which will hook us and lead to the dismemberment of our soul. It shows up, in tangible form, in every manner of our lives. As we question God with regard to our desires, intentions, families, relationships, finances, pleasure pursuits, life missions, romances, and more, we open our lives to a score of dangerous realities.
The bait for Eve, and then for Adam, was presented to them in the form of a question. Behind the question was the unspoken maxim, wrapped up in another question, perhaps rhetorical, “Are you not the master of your own soul?…Don’t you make the rules for your own life?” The enemy appealed to the human craving, despite all God offers us, to make our claim upon our own lives. “I am the measure of all things!” Our soul cries out. “This is about me!” The difficulty with this worldview, and make no mistake, it is a worldview, is that it abandons the biblical reality and teaching on the Sovereignty of God. All the world, all the universe, all of us, are His. We exist for His pleasure, not the other way around. The real kicker we all fail to miss, so often, is that His pleasure is to bring us meaning, fulfillment, and joy. In our own grab for the control of our lives, our pleasure, our relationships, our passions, our addictions, our own escape plans for our past pain, we derail the good plan He has crafted for us. It shows up in so many ways.
Where does it show up? Where is this soul death evident? Its in the rage of a man or woman, railing against everyone in their lives. Its found in the pursuit of a broken heart looking for healing in yet another miserable relationship outside of God’s agenda. Its is also found in the lives of young people seeking to find meaning, fun, and belonging in social arenas which promote, glorify, if not worship, all that is in opposition to God’s call. The enemy presents the lie to worn out parents who refuse to engage children needing a deep sense of security, and who, instead, send them off to their rooms or the television for parenting. The enemy offers us the lie as he presents options galore, appealing for our time, in order to distract us from worship, prayer, thoughtfulness, and deep intimacy with God. The enemy brings the lie to our doorstep through friendships and other relationships which offer us nothing of value, and which only lead us deeper into distraction, illicit pleasure, or shallow gossip and worldliness filled banter. The bait is everywhere. It lurks in the boardroom, the bedroom, on the playground, on the radio, the billboards, the trading pits, and yes, even in our churches. The bait is ever present.
How do we escape death by the bait? Fundamentally, it begins in the chief end of our heart’s desire. The battle against the bait is won and lost in our understanding of what life is all about and who we are living for. The Westminster Confession suggests that the chief end of man is to know God and to enjoy Him forever. This flies in the face of just about every conversation and suggestion you will meet on a daily basis. And it’s an assertion that the darkness lurking in you craves. Everyone around us seems convinced that its about “me”. Its easier to take to bait and let yourself go, isn’t it. For the short term. In the end, all things being known, actually, its much harder to go the way of self. That always, at some point, ends badly. Very badly. Those that try it very long can be locked into a pattern so deep and twisted that it effects every human, mental, emotional, and even unconscious reality or relationship they know. And the spiritual reality is even more depressing.
The only escape from the trap of the bait is to flee before you see it. Stop lurking around the tree God warned you about and focus your attention on the playground He has left open to you. A fundamental choice to embrace God’s call for fully devoted followership and joyous pursuit of Him is the only option which protects us against this most grotesque death. The riches of intimacy with Him, the rewards of Christ-based marriage, the profound sense of rest resulting from God-inspired goals and pursuits, the sense of soul-enriching purpose found in raising kids in the light of God’s truth, the deep and abiding strength which comes from Godly friendships, and so much more is there for our benefit it we will pursue it. The quality of life offered by God is worlds away from the decay we see around us every day.
Soul neglect and an ignorance of spiritual truths will not help us when the enemy has his hands around our throats and is dragging us and our families into a murderous hell with him. The bait is held at bay as we pursue Him and His word. If you doubt that enemy is real, the bait is deadly, and that the is the end result is the darkening of your heart to God’s truth, you had better reconsider before its too late. Read the stats. As teen suicides, drunk driving deaths, divorce rates, criminal justice realities, bios of pleasure seeking and self-serving “celebs”, front page news, wars, disease, racism, spousal abuse, relational illness of all sorts, and so many other present day realities demonstrate, what the scriptures say is true, “The enemy wanders about, always lurking, looking, for those whom he may devour…his quest is to steal, kill, and destroy, like a roving lion.”
If you have found yourself, after honest evaluation, caught in the snare of soul death, and you realize you have taken the bait in one of more arenas in your life, TURN! Turning is the biblical definition of repentance. Repentance, rather than penance, is the biblical path toward a thriving soul. In biblical language, repentance, is a turning from one activity, pattern, way of living, and moving in the exact opposite direction toward something brand new. If you wish to stave off soul death, you must be moving in God’s direction for living. Has soul death darkened the reality of your child rearing? Go the other way. Has it taken you captive in your relational world? Go the other direction. Have you taken the bait of soul neglect? Throw yourself into a regular pattern of learning who God is and what He is about (small groups, study, worship, music that enlivens your soul…). Are all of your relationship characterized by attachments to those who are the walking dead spiritually speaking? Make a decided move to find Godly, mature, and alive people to spend your time with.
What we must know is that soul death can be cured. While we still have breath in these mortal bodies, God extends His hand, as He did to Lazarus, and longs to call us forth from the grave. When we hear His voice we must respond, stand up, even with grave clothes still around us, and walk toward Him to find newness of life.
For those who have come to faith late in life or who may have found themselves in patterns of soul death early on as a result of spiritual neglect, pleasure addiction, deep woundedness, or other life realities, you must be aware that your turn, your repentance, your healing could use an extra measure of aggression in terms of how you deal with the past. As has been said before, “The only difference between a grave and rut is the depth.” Some have merely lost focus for a bit and gotten off course, and have to this point not encountered deep disasters of soul or otherwise. A word of caution, don’t minimize your situation. That rut can quickly become a grave. Let me say it again, no distraction, no sin pattern can be ignored. Deal with it. Go the other way, before you are in a grave. For those who now find themselves in a graveyard situation; get after it. Healing and hope is available. Your deeply flawed choice have landed you there, and you will have to be even more aggressive in your turn away from the old way of life. Why? The enemy will provide you with old bait and new bait, and a world of distractions to keep you in that cell. He longs to keep you with him. This is no joke. He wants to completely devour you, your kids, your spouse, all you are connected to. Run for your life to a new way of living.
Had Eve, and Adam, taken the bait more seriously “in the beginning”, we would all be much better off. One little lie. One hint calling God’s intentions and ability into question. Now look where we are! Do you think it could be any different for you if you question His call for living a life totally based upon His principles? Do you think ignoring your kids embrace of the bait is going to go well for them? Do you think the bait of love outside His calling will heal you? It won’t. Move away from the bait. Run. Into His arms and His new path.
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org