Trapped

Recently my roommates and I have had the "joy" of a little mouse decide to make itself our pet.  As big as an animal lover as I am, I'm not a fan of sharing my food with the little guy or having my counters turned into a toilet.  Thus, we got some traps from our landlord and I got the "fun" duty of setting them for the fellow.

It didn't take long for the little guy to be drawn to the peanut butter and trapped by the sticky paper (note to self: sticky traps suck!  Go for the ones that put them out of their misery quick!); it also didn't take long for the little guy to start fighting the trap, wiggling and squirming and squealing with us his might just trying to get free.  To be honest, it was pretty awful to listen to (yup, I'm a softie); its suffering was hard to ignore.  The thing literally suffered and fought all through the night until it miraculously got itself free late the next morning.

As I cringed at its suffering (I may have had retreat to my room where I couldn't hear it), I realized that I had the perfect visual of sin in our lives.  Like this mouse, sin often looks like something appealing.  That sin will fill this longing in my heart or be the thing to make my life perfect or secure or happy; it will prove my worth or give me the satisfaction or confidence that I long for.  These are the lies of sin.  

And while the pleasure of sin is short lived, its consequences can be lasting.  You go for that "harmless" choice only to find yourself stuck in the goo of sinful patterns and painful consequences.  Was that bit of peanut butter, that bit of pleasure, really worth the fight you're in now?

But here's the thing; while we're powerless to overcome sin, we have an Advocate who has done just that.  Via His strength, we can be set free from the pull and pain of sin.  Who the Son sets free, is free indeed!  Like this little mouse, God has miraculously set us free from the wages of sin through the death of Christ Jesus.  Great is His faithfulness!