Wednesday, June 30, 2021

“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.” (Romans 6: 6 -7, The Message Bible)

 [Susan has come through her knee surgery with flying colours. She has her first physio today. Thanks for all your support.]

                 I recently read a headline that there is a huge increase in the rodent population this year. Some of that increase, unfortunately, has found its way into our kitchen. Small wonder with the bush behind us.

                We bought a live-trap. After all, I am not a senseless murderer of cute (?) little mice. We have discovered that our mice have a sweet tooth or two. They are absolute suckers for a little bit of a butter tart. In fact, despite their now-captive state, the mouse usually eats the whole scrap. It might figure that if it is about to go to that Great Cheese Larder in the sky, it doesn’t want the tart just go to waste.

                Then I take my little captive to Jackson Creek conservation park, only about a minute from our house. I take the cage over to the grass and open it up. But a couple of the mice have not wanted to go free and instead cling tenaciously to the inside of the cage. It would rather be a captive mouse than a free mouse. It’s a cruel world out there; there are owls, foxes, snakes and hawks just looking for a mousey tidbit. But I shake the cage hard enough that it finally falls out and  heads off into the bush. I expect that by now there is a little mouse support group which meets every night lamenting the loss of their free meal.

                No longer captive to sin’s demands!

                Sin is that tasty bit of metaphoric butter tart. It looks so tempting. What harm could it do to take a nibble or two? But before we know it, we are caught in Sin’s trap(s) and can’t get out. Some might begin to think that since they can’t escape, they might as well indulge their appetite for whatever tempted them to begin with. But eventually, the tidbit of pleasure is all gone and guess what: you are still a captive! You have no place to hide. You are at the mercy of whomever is going to open that trap and deal with you. Even then, some might prefer to stay in the trap and hope for the best rather than deal with the real world.

                Graciously, God is the One who opens our traps and frees us from the captivity to sin’s demands. Even though we get ourselves in these sinful predicaments time and time again, God is equally patient and compassionate in his forgiveness and mercy. We are given a brand new opportunity to start the sort of life God wants us to live. Just as mice are meant to live free  in the forest and not in our kitchen, so we, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, are meant to live in freedom.

                “That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.” (Romans 6: 12 -14, The Message Bible)

                And if that means saving every little mouse or every  human – no matter what – then so be it!

 

Dale