How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds! Proverbs 1:17 NIV
If you want to catch birds with a net, you don’t won’t them to see you laying out the net. If they do…you won’t catch many birds.
Birds are too smart for that.
In the Biblical days of Solomon, bird hunters would spread a net on the ground, baited with food for the birds. As the birds would fly down for dinner, the hunters would pull up the nest quickly, capturing many of the birds. Birds are smarter than one might think, though. Apparently if they saw the hunters laying down the nets, they wouldn’t land and so they wouldn’t be caught by the trap.
We don’t know what the coming week has for us yet. Most likely there will be struggles, as well as triumphs, if this week is normal. There are a few things we can almost be sure of though.
- There will be plenty of temptations to distract us from making wise choices.
- Most likely we will take on the characteristics of the places we go and the people we hang around with.
- Our emotional state, our attitude towards life, will greatly be influenced by the thoughts we place in our minds.
Which brings me back to those birds. You see, they were smart enough not to get tangled in a known trap! Which makes the obvious question of the day this: Are you and I that smart? We know those things, places, people and thoughts that distract us from having a great week…
…but are we smart enough to avoid the trap?
Michael Collins you are a wise man
Did you ever consider whether airport security is a good idea? If the terrorists know that there is security, won’t will find a way around it? How useless it is to set a trap for terrorists in plain view. How useless it is to set a trap in plain view of all the birds.
Then wouldn’t it be better to set a trap so they don’t see it. Then you can really catch them…and similar analogies…
i.e. Jesus knew the Pharisees were trying to set a trap for him, but they couldn’t catch him, if he knew where they trying to catch him up. And vice versa catching them, required a surprise which they had not prepared for. A new approach .
Interesting thought process