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Don't Fear Your Capture
Contributed by Timothy Darling on Jan 26, 2009 (message contributor)
DON'T FEAR YOUR CAPTURE
We may not see it clearly, but we are ultimately safe. Following Jesus may not always seem like the wisest thing to do, but the trap is the best place to be.
Think of yourself as a precious, endangered species. There are few of you left, but you are ill, and the conservation community is bending enormous effort and resources to save you. In order to do that, they must give you medical treatment, a single pill, and to do that they need to catch you.
They design a box that shows you what you most want to find, but the moment you reach for it, the box falls down and you are captured.
You may be frantic, frightened, and caught off guard by the unexpected. But in reality, when you have received your pill, your survival expectations will double, maybe triple. You will be able to find your herd and continue your life, but with more vitality. You and others like you are safer and healthier because you were caught.
• You are precious: Jesus died to pay the price for you
• You are endangered: Satan walks about like a roaring lion hunting you to devour you
• You are ill: the sickness of sin eats away at your spirit like a cancer
Go into the trap with your eyes open. Jesus has told you that your faith is a trap and He is the bait. Following is not humanly safe. If you ignore this basic truth, you will fall away. Your dismay at being captured will frighten you and cause you to panic. The one thing that can give you the courage to stand when others tremble is the knowledge that you are walking into a trap, and that the inside of the trap is the best place to be.
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