TIPTOEING ON THE SPIDER WEB

Spider web...

One day I became annoyed by a large fly buzzing around the study. Occasionally, he would land near the spider web, and each time he wandered closer and closer, even venturing onto some of the outer strands much like someone might test the ice of a frozen pond in the early days of winter. But always after a few tentative steps, the fly would dart away, returning again a few minutes later.

I had the impression that the fly was driven by curiosity about the spider’s web. Or perhaps he was playing I-dare-you games with the spider or with something within himself. Did the fly have something to prove?

If he did, the fly didn’t get the job done. He made one visit too many to the edges of the web. This time the fly tiptoed too far out on the strands and suddenly became entangled. He struggled mightily but unsuccessfully. The well-built web held its prey, and soon the spider was out of his hiding place pouncing upon the hapless fly. The conquest was over swiftly, and the study was silent: no buzzing any longer.

Temptation is a key word at this point. Temptation suggest the notion of a seduction of sorts, a drawing of the fly to the spider web through whatever means necessary. The purpose: neutralization and the destruction.

Sin of course, is another key word. It is usually used in two different ways. A sin can be an act or an attitude that is incompatible with God’s standard of right. Or sin can refer to the spiritual disease of the innermost being. Some have likened that disease to cancer, for left unchecked it grows and chokes off what is good. It’s reasonable to observe that sin isn’t taken very seriously by most of us until it has a clear effect in some part of our lives.

(Extracted from “Rebuilding Your Broken World” by Gordon MacDonald)

Is there a web somewhere around us that is constantly drawing us to get closer. Many times we may have come close but we moved away, and somehow, through loneliness, through heartaches, we are drawn closer to the web again…becareful not to be like the fly that got trapped. The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy but He has come to give us life abundantly. Our choices determines the outcome – life or death.

In all our weaknesses, God has given us of His Spirit to overcome. Let us all be determined to clear the webs around us and walk in total freedom, living victoriously.

-jo-