Today late morning sunlight seeps through a crevice in the clouds. It burns off the foggy residue of a cool, fall night and highlights the heavy dewdrops clinging to every surface.
In the crook of a tree limb, a spider web’s bejeweled strands sparkle. It’s alluring. But as beautiful as it is, it’s a trap. The architect is probably resting somewhere nearby, just waiting for an unwitting insect to fly by and become the evening’s entrée.
Once a bug flies into the web, it’s stuck. It will struggle for a while, thinking it can free itself from its thin, seemingly harmless bonds. But the sticky web will hold it in place until the spider returns — unless something or someone intervenes.
That’s how sin works. Satan weaves an attractive web of deceit, then settles in to watch and wait for us to get caught in sin’s trap. The father of lies makes the sinful choices we’re entertaining look so attractive. He tells us our sin de jour will bring us satisfaction, and it will – for a season. He tells us there won’t be any serious consequences, and sometimes there aren’t – for a while. He tells us it’s only a little sin, and it is – at first.
Before long, we’re tangled up in a sticky situation. We’ve become Satan’s prey. When we realize where our choices have taken us, we may struggle against them; try to break the addiction, try to avoid the pitfalls, try to deny the flesh, but the bonds that hold us are stronger than they seem. We need a deliverer.
Praise God we have one! Romans 8 makes it clear that all who repent of their sinful choices and put their faith and hope in Christ’s death and resurrection have been set free from the law of sin and death. We’ve been rescued from sin’s web by our Deliverer, our Redeemer. We may choose to run back to sin, from time to time, but we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:7). The law of the Holy Spirit in us not only sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2), but makes us slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18).
Though we may fall into sin’s trap – for a season, Christ in us intervenes. God sees our struggle and empowers us to break sin’s bonds. Satan is defeated and we’re freed from the wed of sin’s deceit.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1