Devotionals

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LOBSTERING
My older brother Dwight gave "lobstering" a try in our remodeled 36 1/2 foot long "cabin cruiser" (it could sleep 4, we took trips, vacations in it). Could also be used for lobstering, oystering, and deep sea fishing.
Now the lobster trap or pot was a work of genius. A wooden frame built with oak strips, it was 2 feet wide, 3 feet long, and 15 inches high. The sides, top, and bottom were enclosed with heavy duty netting. Except one end. A funnel-shaped net with a relatively small hole covered this end. The lobsters and crabs, sensing the BAIT inside, could crawl inside but could not get out because their claws were too big. That's how they got trapped. The lobster pot was tied by a rope to a floating buoy as it sunk to the harbor inlet floor. We had around 18 pots, each attached to our own specially colored buoys, orange and white I think. There were many other buoys with different shapes and colors belonging to other lobstermen. Gentleman's agreement: you weren't supposed to pull in somebody elses pots and take their lobsters. However, our number of pots gradually decreased.
The BAIT was important. The lobster pot was filled with the remains of red fish after they had been filleted. Rumor has it that red fish fillets never appeared on local restaurant menus. After 4 or 5 days it was odorous and gross, grosser, and grossest. Some fisherman apparently sometime in the past had discovered that lobsters and crabs were ATTRACTED to this particular BAIT.
My job was to put little plastic pegs in the joints of the lobster's claws---so no one got pinched while handling them---ouch! Now they use heavy rubber bands to keep the claws shut.
Oftentimes we find that we have taken the BAIT. A flashing thought in our minds, thinking about it, meditating on that thought, then taking the BAIT and going forward into a trap. Jesus said to His disciples, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matt 26:41. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Pet 5:8. Using BAIT to attract us. Let us "Resist the devil (and his BAIT) and he will flee from you. Who among us is strong enough to face this human dilemna? Good news: God knows us a lot better than we know Him. He gave us two VERY, VERY SPECIAL PROMISES. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Cor 10:13. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 Jo 1:9 Victory over the BAIT problem.
PS-My older brother Dwight helped me with this story.

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