Sophisticated Traps

Things have gotten a lot more sophisticated at my house.  Years ago when my children were all younger, the annual Leprechaun traps were simple: a discarded cardboard box propped up with a stick with some “gold” bait underneath or a heavy object carefully balanced so as to fall on an unsuspecting Leprechaun’s head.  Now, there are mechanized Lego machines designed to firmly capture the Leprechauns and hold them fast so their gold can be lifted from their pockets!

Luckily, even with the more sophisticated traps, the little rascals have escaped unharmed except for the loss of their chocolate gold coins they have dropped in their haste.  My children seem to take the escape of their proposed captives quite well each year, mollified by the sweet treats they leave behind.

I was thinking about all of this a few days ago.  It was actually sobering to me when I realized that this was all quite familiar in another way in my life.  When I was a young follower of Jesus, the enemy’s traps didn’t have to be that complicated to get me to fall for them.  Looking back, they were really fairly obvious.  However, as I have matured in my walk with Jesus, they have become far sneakier.

We have an enemy that doesn’t quit.  When we get wise in one area, another weakness will show up and be exploited.  Now that I have been being discipled by Jesus for as long as I have, the traps have become far more sophisticated.  Sometimes, there is no way for me to even see them by myself.

This is where other people come in.  It is crucial for us as believers to stay connected with each other.  We need others to point out blind spots and weaknesses and to keep us accountable.  And we need to do this for our friends.  We are not meant to walk this way of Jesus alone.  After all, I am sure even the Leprechauns help pull each other out of the traps my children have set for them!

  “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.” Ecclesiastes 4:9–12