Beware Of Satan's Traps!

On my grandparent's farm, we had a chicken coop that would often be invaded by rats because they were attracted by the feed. My grandfather once asked me if I would help him set out a couple of traps.

After a week, we had not caught a single rat. Then a farmer friend offered him the following advice: "No rat will touch an exposed trap. You must disguise it with food. Fill a pan with meal and place the trap in it. Cover it well with meal so it is completely hidden." We tried it and guest what? It worked! The next morning, the trap contained a rather large rat.

This experience reminds me that Satan knows the above trick too. He carefully disguises his trap with truth. Nowhere is it better seen, than in the numerous false cults and religions in the world today. All set their traps of error in a pan of attractive meal. Many quote the Bible and preach a certain amount of gospel truth. They talk about prayer, Jesus, and the Bible. But under the layer of truth is the trap of error (Matthew 7:15-23).

Dear reader, We are living in the age of deception! (Revelation 20:7-8). The Bible warns to "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1) and "beware of deceivers" (2 Timothy 3:13; 2 John 1:7). The only antidote against the clever deceptions that come in the name of Christ (Mark 13:5-6), is to know our Bible — being rooted and grounded in God's truth (Ephesians 3:17; 2 Timothy 2:15); cf. Colossians 2:6-8). We are to "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

We desperately need to be aware of Satan's traps — one of those traps being the disguising of error with a veneer of truth.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets