Rat Trap

 

My wife hates me to say anything about the rat in the basement, but there is such a good lesson there that I cannot ignore it.  I must say that my rat is not one of those nasty disease-bearing rats.  She is (or was - spoiler alert) an outdoor seed-eating rat who just came indoors for the winter.  Her only mistake was to come into MY basement.  And my mistake was to use a mouse trap, which she got out of, which she then became aware of.  So, when I set a rat trap, she was too wary to make that mistake a second time.  It took two weeks, but I was patient and knew that her hunger and carelessness would eventually wear down her wariness and self-control.  So, I moved the trap near the basement wall where it would seem safer to the rat.  I used three kernels of corn a few inches away from the trap to get her used to eating free corn.  Then I superglued a kernel of corn to the trap trigger.  Each night the floor corn was gone, but the trap was still set.  She knew better than to eat that kernel … at least for some time.  I sprinkled the free corn each night for two weeks, and each night the free corn was gone.  After two weeks of patiently setting out corn around the trap, I stopped giving free corn, and I waited.  One night nothing.  But the second night, she wanted corn so bad that her hunger overcame her caution, and she ate the only kernel available, which was on the trigger.  And SNAP!  She was caught.  What a great lesson for us on how Satan wears us down with temptations.  Hey, the devil has been at this game for six thousand years, and he is much wiser than we are.  Peter said in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  Satan goes about looking for weak areas in our lives.  He pushes on doors to see which one is left unlocked.  And an unsecured door is an opportunity for the devil to gain entrance.  Hey, be serious; be vigilant.  Satan is our adversary, and he is ready to devour us!  Trust in the Lord.  Be wary of Satan and don’t fall for his bait!  (No picture is available. R.I.P.)