Skip to main content

Monkey Business


  An interesting system has been used for capturing monkeys in the jungles of Africa. The goal is to take the monkeys alive and unharmed for shipment to zoos of America. In an extremely humane way, the captors use heavy bottles, with long narrow necks, into which they deposit a handful of sweet-smelling nuts. The bottles are dropped on the jungle floor, and the captors return the next morning to find a monkey trapped next to each bottle.
  How is it accomplished? The monkey, attracted by the aromatic scent of the nuts, comes to investigate the bottle, tries to grab the nuts, and is trapped. The monkey can't take its hand out of the bottle as long it's holding the nuts, but it is unwilling to open its hand and let them go. The bottle is too heavy to carry away, so the monkey is trapped. 
  We may laugh at the foolish monkey but we are often “trapped" by Satan the same way. We cling to the pleasures of the world so tightly, that we refuse to let go, and do the will of God. Jesus said in Luke 14:33 “ Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple” Is their anything we are holding on to that is keeping us trapped by Satan and away from God?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mysterious Ways

    William Cowper didn’t see any reason to live.   He decided that he’d jump off the bridge over the Thames. So, he called a cab to take him there.   But that night in 1763, a thick fog enveloped London. It was so thick the cab driver couldn’t find the bridge and couldn’t even find the way to take William home. In frustration, he ordered the driver to stop and get out to get his bearings. He walked up to the nearest house to read the number and it was William's house. Gone now were William’s thoughts of suicide and instead a new idea came into his head. So, he went in and wrote these words: God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.  You fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head.     I sometimes wish we could see all the ways God watches over us when need it. There are...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Gift You Give Yourself

    I always hated buying gifts for my Mom. If I got her something like a new set of pans, it was like saying “Here’s something you can use to go make me something to eat”. A gift for her was seemingly a gift for me.   There are however gifts you give that benefit you more than the receiver. For example, forgiveness. When you give it, you are giving it to yourself as much as you are giving it to them. Jesus said that when we forgive others it means God is forgiving us our wrongs (Matthew 6:14-15).  I once read: “ Heaven is where everyone's forgiven. Hell is where nobody's forgiven.  So, when we forgive we pull heaven down into our lives.  When we withhold forgiveness, we pull hell up into our lives ” Give yourself something nice today, Forgive.
Post a Comment
Read more

Canned Faith

  As Dale Jenkins wrote: “Faith is a little like paint. As long as it’s in the can, it isn't much. Left in the can long enough a gallon of paint will ruin. Faith left unpracticed and unexercised will too….  You can’t just talk about faith.  To be effective, you must be living it out. So take the paint out of the can and start painting.”   The Bible says in James 2:18,”  But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works . " Faith is something that only works when it is used. If our faith doesn’t do anything, is it really there at all?   Truly “ living by faith ” isn’t just a proclamation we make but one we live in how we walk and talk, how we live and interact, and what we say but also what we do.  Is our faith canned? Is it something we have if we go looking for it? Or is it something that is being used daily in our lives?   Does your faith color eve...
Post a Comment
Read more