How this happens?

4 1/2 lb large mouth bass caught on Friday April 30 at Williamstown lake. Rod - 7' Loomis crank bait rod with a splatter back 200 bandit crank bait.

So how does this happen? Well it's all pretty simple in theory. You figure out where such a fish might be (in this case on a wind blown point with fairly shallow water close). You figure out what she's hungry for. (a shad type bait that would match the shad she was used to eating). The kind of presentation needed to mimic a natural food source. (slowly running the bait through the area where she might be). And last, some really sharp hooks! Oh, and one more thing (at least in my case) a little bit of dumb luck.

So why post this? To brag? OK, maybe a little. But more for the spiritual application. Because while not everyone is jazzed up like I am when it comes to fishing. Everyone is being sought after by a much better predator than me. We are all being "fished for" by the enemy of our souls. You know who - the Devil.

And he catches us using some of the same methods I used to catch this fish.

He knows what "bait" to use. And for each of us it may be different. Maybe it is pride, money, sex appeal, or a thousand other things.

He knows what presentation to lay before us. Maybe it's when we are tired, lonely, or feeling sorry for ourselves.

He knows what we are "hungry" for. Maybe it's some medication to take off the edge, or some thrill that we just "can't live without".

And he uses some really sharp hooks!

Now after I caught this fish and took the picture I let her go. Maybe I can catch her again some day and she will be even bigger.

The Devil does not believe in "catch and release" though. Once he gets his hooks in you - he will not willingly let you go.

So consider this verse and take it to heart! Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Pet 5:8 KJV)

If I were to paraphrase this using fishing terms it would read like this. "Be awake and alert because he Devil, the angler from Hell, like a crafty fisherman is throwing his whole tackle box at you, hoping to have you for dinner!"