Did you ever catch a fish that swallowed the hook?   I did... several times... always kinda ugly  though... you know... trying to get the hook out... eventually I would stop struggling  to pull the hook out... just slice the fish open... and then finally  be able to remove it... still always a bit messy... now ... why did that ole fish have to go swallow the whole thing... I mean... doesn't he know better  than that... couldn't he just bite  on it... let me pull him in and then easily remove  the hook.... hmmmm

I know why... 'cause I did it  myself... I took the bait way back in '68 and I swallowed the whole hook... I didn't know any better than those fish I caught.... I didn't even know I was hooked... or how deep  it went inside.... I just kept swimming around in circles for 40 years .... every time I would try to spit it out... the enemy would pull and tug  on that thing... and off I'd go again... swimming around in my little religious circles... going nowhere.... getting nowhere.... and never understanding why...hmmmmm

Finally ... in His mercy... the Lord did His own little evisceration process  to get rid of that thing.... I think it's gone... I hope so.... at least when the enemy pulls  on that thing... I don't feel the tug any more... thanks to a couple of guys I walk closely with here in Vermont... we talk about these things... see the issues... deal with the issues... all the stuff that came from that incredible hook  we each had swallowed at one point.

The hook even has a name... it's called...  "Doing Great Things for God"  ...

Here's how it happens..  we have a collision with God... and immediately we are thrown the hook... "now that we know the Lord... (we are told)... we need to understand that He has a great plan for our lives.... we have a destiny to fulfill... to accomplish great things for Him"  hmmmmm...

Somehow I think I may have more to say about this next time.

:)