I cannot tolerate spiders. In fact, I may even be what people refer to as arachnophobic. I can smash them, but I get real edgy until they’re wiped out.
The picture at the heading is one I took a few hours ago. As we were leaving a funeral home, my built in spider alarm went off and I saw this spider in the middle of its web (no, I didn’t see any fly in the web, nor did I hear some one say, “Help me! Help me!”).
Mustering all my courage, I grabbed my phone and, getting as close as I dare (you know how they can jump), snapped the shot.
What a nice web! A beautiful, spidery web. Just perfect for catching food for its family.
Great for trapping a victim it can devour, as it becomes entangled in the sticky web.
Looking at the picture, I began thinking about a spiritual application. Here’s what I discovered:
“Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26 NLT)
Traps, or spider webs (such as pictured above), are always placed in strategic places. They are located in areas frequented by the prey they are desiring.
Spiders catch flies by constructing their webs in the fly’s neighborhood. Unless the fly is paying attention and watching what it’s doing, it will become spider food before it knows what happened.
Too many flies are careless with their lives. Even with their fascinating eyes, they can only see a couple of yards at the most. In other words, because they move faster than they can see, or think, they wind up in the nice, spidery web.
People do that. I know I have.
The devil places his traps in areas you and I frequent; right in the middle of our ordinary day to day lives. And when we either move too quickly for our brain to react, or we simply ignore the truth of God’s word, we become devil’s food.
Unless we can shake ourselves out of the sticky web in time.
Every temptation is common to man. Temptations are located only in the places man lives. But with each temptation, there is a way to escape. And that can be found by slowing down the movement to allow time to really find out what we may be getting ourselves into.
God’s word will help you and I discern right from wrong, and will keep us from, or deliver us from, the devil’s web. That is, if we’ll pay attention.
Just because there are spider webs placed in strategic places doesn’t mean the fly automatically is doomed. Not every fly is caught. Some live long enough to pester me!
And no one need be caught in a spidery web.
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)
Jan Grace 