I was out under the Apricot Tree near the pump house and looked down to see about five little Doodle Bug funnels in the fine dirt in the shade of the tree. A Ha! I thought there is a group of deadly, voracious Predators that have their traps set and are concealed under the bottom of the funnel waiting to devour any hapless victim that might tumble into their clever trap.

It reminded me of when I was a boy working on the farm. We would always find these clever little traps in the fine river dirt in the constant shade of the giant cottonwood trees along the river bank. We knew, I don't remember how we knew, about a way to catch the deceiver by deceiving him and beat him at his own game. We would put our faces close to the little funnel and yell in a loud voice, "DOODLE BUG! DOODLE BUG! COME AND GET SOME MAPLE SUGAR"! "DOODLE BUG! DOOLE BUG! COME AND GET SOME MAPLE SUGAR"! I am sure the Doodle bugs have no ears but are very sensitive to vibration in the funnel traps. On feeling the vibrations of our voice he would come from his hiding place up to the base of his funnel trap. If we were quick enough we could scoop up a handful of sand out of the funnel and there we could find a little Grey soft bodied bug about ¼ of an inch long. On his head he had some very wicked little hooked pinchers that could grab an Ant or any other little insect and drag it into the depths of his sand home and there devour it. We would many times catch ants or other little bugs and drop them into the little sand funnels and watch them being dragged to their deaths as they struggled to climb the steep banks of the funnel. They could not get out of the funnel because of the loose fine sand making them slide back to the bottom. This gave the Doodle Bug plenty of time to grab his victims with his strong pincher like jaws and drag them under the suffocating sand. I never had the opportunity  to watch a Doodle Bug make his ingenious trap. I guess they make them in the night. They don't  mind the dark because they probably don't have any eyes. They don't need any since they live buried under the sand. We could not find them unless we lured them to the base of their funnel by deceiving them with vibrations. I still wonder how they can make that little perfectly round funnel about an inch and a half or 2 inches deep. The diameter at the  top usually varies from an inch and ¼ to 2 inches depending on the size of the Doodle bug. The sides are perfectly smooth but the sand is dry and very loose making it impossible for the insects to climb out, at least not very soon. I never saw one escape after falling into that deadly little trap. Even if they venture too close to the edge it will crumble and they will tumble and slide down the loose sand into the bottom of the funnel. As they struggle to climb out the Doodle Bug feels the vibrations and comes to claim his prey.  

Satan is much like the Doodle Bug. He has many ingenious traps of all kinds and all are just as deadly to our spiritual lives as the Doodle Bugs little funnel is to his victims. One of these modern traps of Satan's is Pornography. This may seem as harmless to men as a little sandy funnel may seem to an Ant as he travels along his way to find food. But Satan's trap is worse because of the eternal consequences. Like the Doodle bug funnel it is dangerous to even move along the edge of the trap because it is so ingeniously made that just a little miss step and we might find ourselves unable to climb out and can be dragged down into the depths of the suffocating sands of Satan's chains.

Gambling in it's many different forms is another harmless looking trap that Satan has used over and over again to drag down his victims to temporal and spiritual ruin. Disguised as getting something for very little or winning a big prize or any other form of getting something for nothing.

Old Brother Aaron Camphuesen used to say very solemnly in his Dutch accent, "Ve don't got nuttin for nuttin"! Every day our computer screen will come up with big advertisements. "Free get it absolutely Free!!"

I can't help but record here in contrast the Testimony of brother Camphuesen since I heard it very many times when I was a little boy. As I remember his own words as follows, "Ven ve lived in de old country, ve heard de Gospel and I vanted to be baptized. But Moma didn't vant to be baptized. Ven ve vent to be baptized ve had to cut a hole in de ice dat vas tree feet tick, ven I vent to go in my little Moma say, "Papa, I vant to be baptized first". Ven she vas in de vater a light came down from heaven and she did not feel de cold". Hear the old gentleman would raise his hand high and point to heaven and his voice would shake with emotion.

Now consider the hardships and the suffering of that little couple of Dutch people as they came to America and even on down to Colonia Dublan in Mexico to make their home. Their Testimony never wavered and they were never tempted into Satan's traps because of their unwavering faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If we are busy working in the kingdom of God and serving others then that seems to be the best protection from different traps that Satan uses to ensnare those who are thinking only of themselves. May we all remember the Doodle Bug trap when we are tempted to go somewhere that we should not go or when we might be walking very near the edge of one of Satan's traps.