A couple nights ago I got myself into a tight spot while trying to hook up the VCR (yes, I still own one of those) to the TV. Once I fed the wire through the tiny hole at the back of the entertainment center, I had to reach down and get it. That piece of furniture is so heavy, I didn’t bother moving it away from the wall. Instead, I figured I could just jam my arm back there.
I didn’t get very far before it was scratching the skin off my arm, but I was almost there, so I continued wedging my arm further and further until I finally held the plug in my victorious hands. The only problem now was that I couldn’t move an inch!
I tried to use my free arm to get loose, but I had gotten myself into such an awkward position that I had no strength to budge that furniture. I was actually stuck, and I couldn’t get out. I knew what I had to do, but I couldn’t bear the thought of asking for my petite little wife to come move some heavy stuff around to free her puny pipsqueak husband.
Eventually, I caved in and called out for my wife to help me. Not a very proud moment. But she was somewhere upstairs and couldn’t hear me. My embarrassment was added to when two of my kids came over and offered to give me a hand, but by that time I had been stuck so long that I didn’t care who it was that helped me get out. I just wanted out.
Believe it or not, my daughter latched onto that thing and pulled it far enough away from the wall to set me free.
Most of us aren’t exactly keen on asking for help, but let’s face it. Sometimes we need it.
This is how temptation often works in our lives. Most of the time when we are tempted, we aren’t thinking of the consequences of our actions. It’s like we are blinded to the obvious outcome of what we are about to do.
Whether it’s a temptation like lying, the urge to commit sexual sin, the pathway to addiction, etc., we deceive ourselves into thinking it will be easy to walk away, but instead we get ourselves trapped when we decide to go for it. Every time we do it, we wedge ourselves deeper and deeper, not realizing how stuck we are.
All sin is destructive, and all sin enslaves us. Whatever the sin, the ultimate consequence is still the same, death. Romans 6:23 tells us that “The wages of sin is death..” There is no way we are getting out of that bondage on our own. We just don’t have the ability to do it.
God has offered a lifeline in Jesus Christ. He came to set us free from the bondage and the consequences of sin. The rest of Romans 6:23 tells us how, “…But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We may have gotten ourselves into a tight spot, and we may feel like there is no way out, but by the power of the blood of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be delivered and set free!
Some are too proud to call out for help. Sad. But those who come to their senses realize that they are trapped and are willing to humbly acknowledge their need of the Savior. They are the ones who by the grace of God receive forgiveness and are forever freed from the power and the penalty of sin.
Are you trapped in some behavior? Do you need victory over some sin? Are you enslaved by addiction? Do you long for deliverance? Are you weighed down by the guilt of your past?
Freedom is not that far away, if you’ll ask the right Person. Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed!