Have you ever wondered if Satan prefers one sport over another? I have and, based on an understanding of scripture, I think Satan loves fishing! Yes, fishing! Let me explain why I drew this conclusion.
In James 1: 13-15 (ESV) we read:
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
The context is given in verse 13: it seems it’s not uncommon for people to blame God for allowing a tempting situation to arise which subsequently leads them to do wrong. Maybe their thinking is that because God is sovereign, he can stop people from being tempted to do wrong, or at least that he should stop Satan from tempting people to do wrong. Anyway, James makes it clear: God Himself cannot be tempted to do wrong, and neither does he tempt anyone else to do wrong.
So what causes people to yield to temptation, to commit a wrong? Well, verses 14-15 give an answer, and I will use a fishing analogy to explain that text. Imagine being a fish swimming from point A to point B. You’re swimming along, minding your own business when you notice out of the corner of your eye an unexpected movement. Because you know you’re on a journey from A to B, you want to ignore the disturbance, so you decide to restrict your investigation to a fleeting glance in the direction of the movement. Hmm, desire kicks in: was that a tasty morsel, or another fish looking to mate? Maybe it was a predator seeking to eat me! I’d better deviate from my current course to investigate. All so innocent, but you’ve been “lured”! As you draw closer to the bait, you see that it looks attractive (it looks nice to eat), and you could do with a bit more sustenance on your journey (it’ll help the flesh), so you begin to swim around the bait. Just looking mind you; not touching anything! Swimming around the bait you decide to check it out with a small nibble; and not only is it tasty but nothing bad has happened. So you nibble some more; and you’ve become enticed. Finally, you decide to go for the big bite: you’re hooked and death is imminent. Desire has run its full course. Satan rejoices like the fisherman who’s landed a big catch.
And that’s why I think Satan’s favourite sport is fishing.
Rob Keller