While the Turtle Man on television uses his bare hands to catch animals, most people use traps. If you want to catch a pesky mouse, you will use cheese as bait to lure this creature out of hiding. However, if you are attempting to get rid of larger animals, you will need a cage with a trap door. Depending upon the creature, you will use a food that is tempting, something that animals crave. Although animals may see the steel cage, the enticing aroma of the bait leads them into the trap.
In Genesis 3, Satan uses an apple to trap Eve. Like a hesitant animal, Eve walks around this trap, trying to examine the situation. Eve’s know God’s expectations from Genesis 2:16, but the apple was so beautiful, pleasing to her eye. She knew what to do, yet curiosity led Eve into the cage of sin. Once the desire within Eve to eat the apple conceived, this gave birth to sin, James 1:15, leaving her trapped.
Solomon uses a similar image in Proverbs 9:17-18. When we sin, we steal something that does not belong to us nor does God want us to have anything to do with it. Nonetheless, the instant gratification of sin is so delicious, satisfying for a moment before guilt, shame and fear grip our bodies. Once trapped by sin, its hard to break away as illuminated by Proverbs 9:18, “But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.”
If you are feeling ensnared by a specific sin, remember the words of James 5:16. Find someone you trust to confess your sin. Pray for healing and freedom from this sin. People imprisoned in the cage of sin for years often give up hope, but with God and Christ, all things are possible, Matthew 19:26 and Philippians 4:13.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 