trapped

I hope nobody saw me do it, and hope even more that there aren’t any negative repercussions. But the bottom line is this: I did it and would do it again. Guilty as charged.

I let a possum out of my neighbor’s trap this morning. It had been in there for at least two days and I hadn’t seen a car in the driveway since last week.

Right or wrong, I concluded the possum would die without food or water, so I let it out. I don’t have a problem with trapping nuisance animals and releasing them elsewhere, but letting an animal die a slow and painful death in a trap is a no go for me.

Interestingly, it didn’t seem to want to leave. I opened the trap’s door but the possum stayed at the other end, baring it’s teeth at me.

“Hey, I’m you’re rescuer, stupid!”

I finally succeeded, but had to resort to tipping the trap on its side and shaking it until the possum came tumbling out. Fortunately, the thing didn’t bite me. Rabies city, I’m sure.

As I walked home afterwards I couldn’t help but think about Jesus, looking down at us humans and concluding we were trapped because of our sins. And like the possum, we would eventually face a gruesome end unless somebody came to our aid.

So what did He do?

“Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!”1

The analogy was even more vivid to me since I was like the possum and refused to be rescued for awhile, 35 years to be exact. Instead of clinging to one end of a cage, however, I clung to my unbelief and hardened heart, certain that I didn’t need a Savior. And if I did, Jesus wasn’t it.

There is one big difference between my spiritual experience and the possum’s experience, however. Gravity forced the possum to eventually fall to the ground. In other words, it really didn’t have any choice but to be rescued.

I, on the other hand, had a choice. God never picked me up and forced me to do anything. I had to eventually choose to be saved. I had to eventually choose to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

What about you? Have you made your choice yet? Are you going to let Christ rescue you from your sins or will you stay in the trap?

It’s your choice.

That’s a good thing, and a bad thing. A good thing because you get to decide your own fate. A bad thing because you might make the wrong decision.

“Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”2

1  Philippians 2:8

2   Hebrews 9:27