I sat in my office studying one day when a mud dauber flew behind me. Since I have never known one to sting, I simply ignored him. But when I turned around in my chair a few minutes later, there he was, caught in a spider web between my trash can and bookcase. He hung upside down less than an inch above the floor—so near to escape, and yet, in the web, so far. The spider who had him trapped was so small that I could barely see it. But the mud dauber was trapped none the less. The spider would make forays at one of the mud dauber's hind legs, while the mud dauber would kick for his life, but all in vain.
I sat wondering, "Should I free the mud dauber?" At first I was inclined simply to let nature take its course, but seeing the mud dauber struggle, I resolved to free him. I have no special liking for mud daubers, but I have even less for spiders. So I took a yardstick and freed him. How tangled he was! Even after freeing him, he got stuck to the trash can and I had to free him again. But alas, it was all to no avail. For the spider's poison did its work, and although the mud dauber moved around a little, he soon rolled over and died.
I asked myself, "Is there a lesson in all this—a spiritual application?" And I could not help but feel that there was. For was not the mud dauber's encounter with the web the same as my encounter with sin? Trapped! Entangled in it! So near to freedom and yet so far away. And nothing that I could do would free myself. The salvation had to come from an external source. Jesus Christ was that source. And His salvation is not one which merely frees from the entanglements of sin. It provides the antivenin to Satan's poison, too. The mud dauber died from the poison. And the poison of sin would have killed me, too, if it had not been for Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift! You see, the poison of sin did kill in my case, too. But it killed Jesus Christ who took my sins on Himself. He died in my place!
Oh, that web of sin! How easy it is to get entangled in it and how impossible to get out without help! And as the mud dauber fought against the web that still clung to him after I had freed him, I thought, "Sometimes a person becomes so entangled in sin, that even after Christ frees him, he cannot escape the consequences. It takes a while to escape from all the entanglements that sin has gotten us into."
And what about the spider? Why, the spider rebuilt his web! And Satan rebuilds his. He eagerly waits for another victim.
Friend, what about you? Are you entangled in the web of sin? I waited too long to free the mud dauber from the spider's web. But God has not waited too long—Jesus Christ has already died in your place. But there is a difference. The mud dauber had no choice—God has given us a choice. We can either accept the salvation offered by God—or reject it. As Mark 16:16 says, "The one who believes and is immersed will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned." God has not waited too long—but you may. Why not accept His salvation today? As II Corinthians 6:2 says, "Behold, now is the acceptable season! Behold, now is the day of salvation!" Don't wait too late!
—Bruce Terry
Copyright © 1993,1999, Bruce Terry. All rights reserved. This article may be freely reprinted in bulletins and newsletters so long as no charge is made to the reader and this copyright notice is included.
