SNARES IN LIFE'S PATHWAY

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2 TIMOTHY 2:26 1 CORINTHIANS 9:27

For a number of years my family and I lived deep in the wilderness region of northern British Columbia. Many things that were a normal part of our daily lives could have suddenly thrust us into a survival situation. A canoe capsizing in white water, a fall might mean a broken bone when we were miles from any other human being, a mechanical failure when traveling by snowmobile could leave one of us stranded in freezing temperatures, a grizzly attack, or a fall through the ice into glacial water…these and many other potential emergencies were all things that each family member needed to be able to cope with should the need arise.

Consequently, our children had to be trained in how to handle the four basic essentials of wilderness survival. Each one had to know how to provide themselves with (1) Pure water (2) Fire (3) Shelter and (4) Food. They were taught that they didn't go anywhere in the woods without carrying with them a sharp knife, a compass, a waterproof case filled with waterproof matches, and a small kit that contained the basic items they would need in a survival situation.

One of the things their survival kit contained was a coil of wire. It was primarily used to help procure food by combining it with two sticks to form a snare. The snare was set along an animal trail or at the mouth of a den and then connected to a bent over sapling. When an animal walked into the noose of the snare, it would unleash the sapling and lift the animal up into the air, quickly killing it, and holding the animal's body above the reach of any predators.

Snares can also be used to take large animals as well as small ones, and on one occasion I almost walked into one that Indians had prepared for a moose. It had been set on the edge of a salt lick that I'd found deep in the wilderness. No better place could be found to trap an animal. All kinds of wild creatures will come from miles around to visit such a lick. This one resembled the hub of a wagon wheel with many animal trails emanating out from the center like the spokes in a wheel. I was circling the edge of the lick when I nearly walked into the Indian's well disguised snare. It was made of woven steel cable and had been concealed in some bushes along a game trail. The end of it was not attached to a bent over sapling but to a heavy log. Once a moose is snared it will attempt to escape by rushing off through the underbrush and trees dragging the log behind. Of course, the log soon becomes snagged and the moose's frantic efforts to escape only succeed in drawing the noose tighter around the animal's throat. At another location (miles from this one) I came across the same kind of a deadly snare, only this one had been set on a trail that was being used by a very large bear.

Obviously, a properly set snare can be a deadly instrument in the hands of anyone who knows how to properly use it. Because of this fact, and because it requires so little to construct, it could be the means of saving a person's life in a survival situation. Even a child can be taught how to make a snare and where to set it.

From time to time our girls would set snares to catch snowshoe hares and it was a comedy to watch them at work. Their ages were 8, 11 and 13. Kendra was the youngest and each trip she delighted in seeing if they'd been successful in snaring anything. Elena was always the tenderhearted one, and she'd pray that the snares would be empty when they reached them. Linda was the oldest, and was the practical and cool "big sister". She was the one who would remove and kill any game that had been caught in their snares. Elena would do her part, but all the time she was doing it she'd have big tears in her eyes.

It came as somewhat of a surprise to me to learn that the word "snare" is actually mentioned fifty-six times in the Bible. One reason it appears so frequently is because many of the men chosen by God to write the Bible were men of the outdoors. For many years the Israelites were herdsmen, a people who would take their flocks into the mountains and spend mane days there letting their sheep and goats find places to graze. In a land that had many dangerous wild animals they were required to be ready when necessary to protect their flocks from marauding predators. Outdoorsmen such as these were well acquainted with the use of a snare.

There can be little doubt that men like John the Baptist, Amos, Samson and numerous other well known Bible characters had set many a snare in their day. Even Kings, such as David and Solomon, show evidence of being quite familiar with the practice of setting snares.

THE SATANIC SNARE

More often than not, when references to a snare do occur in the Bible, they appear as warnings to men and women, telling them to be wary lest they too become the victim of a cleverly set snare. In 2 Timothy 2:26 Timothy warns about the danger of "falling into … the snare of the Devil" (Satan) mankind's most dangerous predator.

The Bible leaves no room for doubt as to its meaning. Repeatedly it refers to Satan as a very real being, a ruler among entities that exist in another world. This dark ruler is often referred to as Lucifer, the Devil, or "ha Satan", meaning the "Enemy". He's recognized as being the chief revolutionary of creation, the one who actually dared to incite rebellion against the God of the Universe! He's a being that's existed for thousands of years and has been places, seen things, and done deeds that would boggle our small finite minds. His wisdom and cunning far exceeds our own and it is this being that's setting traps on our life's pathway, attempting to influence our thoughts and actions.

DAVID: 1 Chronicles 21:1 "Satan rose up against Israel and CAUSED DAVID TO TAKE A CENSUS of Israel."
PETER: Luke 22:31 "…Satan hath desired TO SIFT thee".
PAUL: 2 Corinthians 12:7 " messenger of Satan hath been sent TO BUFFET me."
ANANIAS & SAPPHIRA: Acts 5:3 "Ananias, how is it that SATAN HAS SO FILLED YOUR HEART that you have lied to the Holy Spirit?"

SATAN KNOWS HOW TO SET A SNARE AT THE VICTIM'S MOST VULNERABLE SPOT

In the wilderness we learned that the greatest weakness of most animals is their habit of following the same patterns of movement. Knowing this, the skilled hunter uses that habit as a weakness that he can exploit. So many wild creatures follow the same trails at approximately the same time of day or night. Once their pattern is discovered, a snare can be set at a place and time that's most likely to trap the unsuspecting animal. His own weakness is used against him and becomes his downfall.

In the same way Satan targets our weaknesses. With some of us it's finances, with others it's their marriage, with others, their children and with still others it's sex. Whatever it is, we may be sure that it's well known to the enemy of our souls. And that's just where he'll strike when we're in an unguarded moment.

Some years ago my son and I taught self-defense to law enforcement personnel, undercover agents, certain special forces people and some hand-picked business executives. Our clients were drilled on learning to only strike targets that were capable of disabling an attacker immediately, and that no physical encounter should last longer than fifteen seconds.

In order to quickly dispatch an opponent you had to first assess what type of assailant you were dealing with. They were classified as having the fighting style of either a boxer, wrestler, or martial artist. As such, each had a zone in which they were most dangerous. We taught our clients to avoid that zone, to bide their time and attack only when their adversary performed committed movement. When that moment arrived they were taught to move swiftly and decisively to end the fight. This was done by striking the opponent's momentarily unguarded vulnerable spot. One decisive strike and it was over.

That's exactly the strategy Satan uses when attempting to bring us down. He knows what our strengths are, and he waits until you've moved outside of that zone. He then attacks swiftly and forcefully, striking at your weakest, most vulnerable spot.

THE PURPOSE OF SATAN'S SNARES IN YOUR LIFE

His first intended purpose is to bring about the loss of your soul. This is paramount! However, if he's unable to immediately, accomplish that, then his next priority is to disable you and to see that you never amount to much as a Christian. He wants to take you out of the game and off the playing field …. to send you to the bench, the showers or even the bleachers. There are no lengths to which he will not go to see that happen!

Unfortunately, many who've pledged to follow Christ with all their heart are too easily turned aside. They still go through some of the motions of being a Christian, but they stay just barely over the line all their lives. They settle for mediocrity …. or less. As the Bible puts it, they're ‘"saved, … so as by fire"… which is another way of saying … by the skin of their teeth. They're just barely inside the door of salvation, but they are of no real value when it comes to serving the Lord or bringing anyone else into the Kingdom.

Years ago, I came across a story that I have thought of many times since the day I first heard it. It took place in the state of California back in the 50's and was told many times by one of the most powerful evangelists of that day. If I were to mention his name many of you would instantly recognize it.

He'd been holding a meeting in a local church and said that he couldn't help but notice an old gentleman who sat in the meetings night after night. Each evening before the services the old fellow would be in the auditorium straightening the song books, and taking care of any last minute tidying up that needed to be done. Then when the service was over, the old man would get his big broom and begin to push it back and forth as he went up and down the hallways of the empty church. And always during the preaching the old gentleman would be sitting on a pew at the back of the church listening intently and nodding his head. And before every service was concluded the evangelist would see tears trickling down the old man's cheeks.

Then one evening, after the service was over and almost everyone had left, the old man approached the evangelist carrying a sheaf of notebook paper. Rather timidly, he spoke,"Sir, I brought these for you to look over when you have the time. There might be something in them that you could use sometime when you preach."

The evangelist asked him what they were and the old man replied that they were sermon notes that used to belong to a preacher that he knew. As kindly and as tactfully as possible the evangelist thanked him but declined to accept them, saying that he made it a practice to never preached another man's sermons, explaining that he tried to only use original material. But the old man replied that there was no need to worry since the man they'd originally belonged to would never have any need for them again, and before the evangelist could remonstrate further, the old gentleman placed the notes into his hands and was gone.

Not wanting to hurt the old man's feelings, the evangelist thanked him and took the papers, intending to dispose of them later. After returning to his motel room he took the sheaf of notes and started to throw them in the wastebasket, but paused ….when he noticed that the title of one of the messages was the same topic he himself was planning to preach on the next evening. Out of curiosity …. He decided to glance through it just briefly.

To his utter surprise he found that he couldn't put it down! The message was one of the best he'd ever seen, a work of art! Quickly jotting down one or two things from the manuscript, he decided to incorporate them into his own sermon.

The next night as the evangelist prepared to speak he saw the old man seated in his usual place, and during the message he noticed that each time he inserted one of the items from the material he'd been given, the old mans lips began to quiver and tears began to course down his cheeks. Later when the service was over the evangelist spoke to the church's pastor, "I've been meaning to ask you about something. I couldn't help but notice that you have a very unusual man as janitor in your church. I was just a bit curious about him." The pastor replied, "Yes, he is unusual, and there's a story behind his life. You see, at one time he was one of the most powerful young preachers in the country, a rising star in the field of evangelism. He was preaching great crusades everywhere and God's hand was on him in a tremendous way. Great numbers of people were being won to Christ, and only God knows what he might have been used to accomplish, but then one night, he was drawn into the fires of sexual passion and fell into sin.

The story came out, and one hour after the newspapers hit the stands his ministry was over forever. It was a monumental tragedy. He would hold no more great crusades. No church would have him. The moment he walked into any service he was recognized and shunned. He had preached his last message.

Years ago our church took pity on him and hired him as church janitor, and he does that job flawlessly and with all his heart. What you see him doing here was the only way he could find to serve the Lord."

The evangelist who used to tell this tragic story said that as he left the church that night he turned to watch as the old man went about rearranging the song books, dusting off the altar and sweeping the floors of the church. With a tear in his eye he said to himself, "Push your broom old man. Push your broom. You're doing what you can to serve the Lord, and that's good. But you'll never be what you might have been … had you remained true to the Lord, and avoided the snares of sin."

But there's more to the story. The evangelist told the story of that old man in many of his meetings all across the country He told it as a warning to others to beware of the snares that the Devil . But the ironic end of the story is this … that same evangelist fell into that same sin … and wound up disgraced, his home ruined, and his ministry a thing of the past! He had become involved in a sexual liaison with a movie actress, and the last I heard anything about him, he'd ended up as a derelict on the beaches of California.

When I heard the story of those two men I couldn't help but think of the words of Scripture found in Jeremiah 50:24……"I have laid a snare for you and you are also taken …. You are found and also caught..." They serve as a warning to me and to everyone who reads these words …. Somewhere up ahead there is a snare that lies concealed on your path. You may encounter it … perhaps in a week ... perhaps in a month….perhaps today. There's no way of knowing just when or where. But know that it IS there waiting. Let's be sure that we stay alert and strong in our faith.

Do we stand any chance of overcoming the tests and snares that lie ahead? Two verses of Scripture give us the answer to that question and the motivation to do what we need to do. Look them up for yourself and see what they say to YOU.

1 Corinthians 10:11
Romans 8:18

Posted by cdrnorth at September 12, 2005 2:11 PM