There's a story often told in the Old Union community of a father who was losing his penned up chickens to some owls. That same man had a son who, at the time, liked to hunt crows.
Now, one of the things his son used to attract crows was an inflatable polyurethane owl.
Unknown to the father, one afternoon the son had "set up" his inflatable owl just beyond the chicken pen and was trying to call-up some crows .
After having little success, the son stopped hunting but left the fake owl- inflated and tied to a fencepost.
Late that evening the father came hurriedly into house, got his shotgun, and began to slip out to the chicken pen- as if stalking some deadly creature. He had spotted the ravenous bird who was killing his chickens-or at least he thought so.
No sooner had the father pointed the gun and pulled the trigger, did the nocturnal, goggle-eyed, chicken-killing ,bird of prey slowly deflate into a hole-filled, polyurethane shadow of its former self!!
There are at least 3 principles to be learned from this story:
(1) Some things are not always what they appear to be .
Take for instance, the Pharisees. Jesus compared both the scribes and the Pharisees to "whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness." (Mt 23:27KJV) Such was the folly of the doctrines.
Or the shepherd boy, David. Everyone just knew that the youngest of Jesse's sons could surely not be God's anointed-everyone that is, except God. Because God looks on the heart of a person and not on the outward appearance.
(2) Make sure what you are aiming for is the Real Deal.
Jesus the Real Deal! If your trust is in things - material things. Those things will never satisfy the true cravings of the heart-which is an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
If you place your trust in a person, whether it be political, social, spiritual or otherwise-man will, at some point disappoint you. I could give lots of examples (Washington DC is full of them) . Just watch or listen to the news this week. See what I mean?
(3) When using a lure, more often than not, you will attract something other than what you were trying to attract.
We see this way too often in society, where young ladies especially, think they have to dress(or undress) in such a manner, as to get the attention of a particular person of the opposite sex. And in the process, ending up catching much more than what they were looking for. Unfortunately, it's just not young ladies anymore! It's even crept into some of our churches.
And guys, you don't get a free pass either. Button up that shirt. Just how did you get into those jeans?? And why do you wear so much cologne, that if someone threw a match on you, you would burst into flames?
What has happened to modesty?
Titus 2 has some good advice on the men teaching the young men and the women teaching the younger women about these things.
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