On this day in 1959, the largest fish ever hooked by a rod and reel, a great white shark weighing 2,264 pounds, was caught.

You’re fishing with your dad out in the ocean. The sky is clear, the weather warm, and the sea calm. Your line is in the water, but mostly you’re just catching rays. Then wham! Something hits your bait and almost knocks you off your seat. And for several hours you fight what turns out to be a huge white shark . . . and finally you land him.

Now pretend you’re the shark. You’re a lean, mean, fighting and eating machine. Being gigantic, you go wherever you want and eat whatever you can gather into your wide jaws. Gliding fearlessly through the deep, you spot a delicious morsel just ahead and above. So you grab it in one big swallow. Then wham! Something bites into your gullet and pulls back—you’re hooked. You fight like crazy, pulling the line and boat in circles, all one ton of you, but you can’t get free. You’re caught.

That’s how temptation always works. We glide through life and spot something we want to have or do. Ignoring possible dangers, we bite and swim away. But then, wham!, we feel the hook. Temptations, like taking something that doesn’t belong to us, smoking or drinking alcohol, making fun of someone, and other “tasty morsels,” may seem okay, but they come with hooks.

So when you spot something that looks good but you think it may be bad, or you’re not sure, don’t take the bait. Leave it alone and “swim” away as fast as you can.

Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death (James 1:14–15).

To Do

What tempts you? Talking about someone else? Looking at a classmate’s test paper to get a better grade? Watching movies you know are off-limits? Get a fishhook and glue it to the center of an index card and write “James 1:14, 15” at the bottom. On the flip side write down your biggest temptation. Put your creation on your wall or desk so you’ll see it every day.

Also on this day . . .

753 b.c—.Tradition says that on this day Rome was founded.

1789—John Adams was sworn in as the first U.S. Vice President.

1956—Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” became his first number one hit on this day.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.