Trapped

Reading for Today: Proverb Chapter 5

Gold Nugget

Verse 22: “His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin.”

Commentary

When I was a kid I got tricked into putting my fingers in a Chinese finger trap. I remember pulling my fingers apart only to find the trap tighten down on them. An immediate panic set in and instinctively I pulled harder trying to free myself. Watching my torturers roll with laughter at my frustration, I suspected that I needed them to somehow break their code of silence and reveal to me the way to freedom. As I know now, and many of you can attest, simply relaxing and pushing your fingers together instead of pulling them apart will allow the material to loosen, expand and free your fingers from it death grip. It’s still great fun to watch unsuspecting children and adults suffer the “traumatic” experience of wondering if they will ever see their fingers again! This reminds me of what we are faced with when it comes to getting trapped by our sin. We will slide into that sin as willingly as I slid my fingers into that trap. Yes, maybe I was coerced and deceived into doing it, but I chose to put myself in the trap. Just like the Chinese finger trap, once it has its grip on us, our struggling and panic will only cause the sin to tighten its hold on us. All the while, our enemy is taking great pleasure in our suffering. We cannot free ourselves from this squeeze the devil has us in. Our only hope is to stop struggling and start repenting. Repent means to turn from your current path and go the opposite direction. Just as I was trying to pull those fingers apart, I had to do the opposite thing and start pushing them together. The young folks used to say, PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens). I like that. If you have been tricked, or just decided poorly to get involved in something that has taken you over, stop struggling and start PUSHing. Pray Until Something Happens. Repent to your Father and watch Him set you free from the bondage that sin has put you in. We must accept that, as today’s “gold nugget” says, “His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin”. We got ourselves in this mess, but only He can get us out. Repent today and be set free!

Prayer

Lord, one of the hardest parts of getting free from the situation that the enemy has trapped us in, is accepting our role in it. We would rather view ourselves as victims instead of accepting that we made bad decisions. Help us to accept responsibility for the mess we’ve gotten ourselves in and witness the redemptive power of a merciful God. Amen

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