From the back porch of her home a friend noticed a beautiful butterfly with its fragile legs caught in a spider’s web. It was flapping its wings wildly trying desperately to escape. Feeling sorry for the butterfly, my friend came closer to see if she could help free it. What she saw, though, was that the harder the butterfly tried to escape, the more it got enmeshed in the spider’s web. As gently as possible she helped free it and was delighted when it was able to break free and fly away.

It reminded her of how we can so easily get entrapped by sin. A little dabbling here and a little dabbling there. We put our toe in sin’s waters as it were and before we know it we are entrapped in the web of our own actions and emotions. And then, the harder we try to escape and free ourselves, the more enmeshed we become. The fact is we cannot save ourselves from sin’s entrapment and its eternal consequences. Only God can do that. He has provided the only way of escape and that is through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life to pay sin’s penalty. As God’s Word says, “By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” – Paul (Ephesians 2:8)

by Dick Innes, Daily Encounter www.actsweb.org/detoday . Used by permission.