Does this little raccoon look very happy? He obviously walked in, took the bait, and now he is trapped! The one thing that he has going for him is that he knows he is trapped. So many people today are trapped just like this raccooon, but what makes it worse is that they dont even realize they are trapped! So how are people trapped you ask?
Well, it starts with the bait. You have to have some kind of bait to catch most animals in a trap. Satan, our spiritual enemy, knows this principle also. He uses a special kind of bait to try to trap us. It's called OFFENSE. I'm not talking about the opposite of defense. I'm talking about being offended. Have you ever been offended? Did you realize Satan was using that offense as bait to try to trap you and render you weak and useless for the kingdom of God? He wants to take you out of the battle of advancing God's kingdom, and he knows exactly how to do it! If you have ever been offended, Satan knows exactly what kind of bait to use.
As Jesus was talking to his disciples about what it will be like when it is close to the time of his return to earth He said this:
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Matthew 24:10 NKJV
The Greek word used in this verse for offended is the word skandalizo and it means to entrap. This word is also the name for the stick that was used to bait a trap to catch small animals. They would put the bait on the "skandalizo", the bait stick, and then when the animal tried to get the bait off the stick, it would set the trap! Do you see the significance here? The bait of Satan is offense!
So now that we know what Satan uses for bait, what is the trap? Let's look back at the verse above: first we take the bait and we are offended, then we betray one another, then we hate one another. Do you see the progression? What is the root of all of this? How can we go from being best friends with someone to hating them? The answer is bitterness and unforgiveness. We do not betray and hate people unless we are harboring bitterness and unforgiveness towards them. One of my favorite sayings is "Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. I wrote a post about bitterness here that you can read when you finish this one :-). When you allow yourself to be offended, you set the trap of unforgiveness that leads to bitterness and eventually to hatred if not dealt with.
We must learn what offends us. Satan knows, and so should you. Once you know what the bait looks like it's easy to spot the trap and avoid it. But what do we do if we are already trapped and cant get out? We have to forgive. Forgiveness is the key to our freedom. So often when I have been offended I felt like the person who offended me had the key to set me free, all the while the lock was on the inside of the trap, not the outside, and I had the key!
The difficult thing about forgiveness is that somebody has to die. You heard me right. You have to die. I'm not talking about a physical death, but you do have to die to your selfishness and pride. You have to die to your "right to be offended", which is really ridiculous. You have to die and say that the relationship is more important than being right. Who cares if you are right. You will die a slow, painful, poisonous death if you stay in that trap. The only person who has ever had a "right to be offended" was Jesus.
You may be saying to yourself, "Jason, all of this makes sense, but I just dont know how to forgive someone that did something like this to me." Let me tell you that I know with 100% certainty that you can forgive that person, and I know how you will be able to do it. Remember how I said that with forgiveness somebody has to die? Well, my friend, somebody already died for your forgiveness and His name is Jesus! He is God's only son who left his throne in heaven to come to this earth and redeem us from the curse of sin and death and give us LIFE!
If you are finding it impossible to forgive, it may be that you have not received the forgiveness that comes with faith in Jesus Christ. You see, we are all born sinners and in need of forgiveness from God. Every last one of us has sinned against God over and over and over. But God was full of grace and He sent His son Jesus to die for us. To be the sacrifice for our offense against Him. Because of Jesus' death, you can have life and be set free! When you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord of your life and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved! You will be forgiven! You will be made a new creation!
Those who have been forgiven best, forgive best. If you have not accepted this free gift from God you will not be able to understand how to forgive best. I urge you to start seeking God in His Word, the Bible. You can get a free Bible here. The Spirit of God is pursuing you because God wants you to be free. He wants you to receive this gift. He loves you. When you are ready acknowledge to God that you have sinned against him and you want to turn from your sins, confess that you believe that Jesus is God's Son, your Lord, and that He died for you and rose from the grave! Then share with your friends and family your decision to walk in the freedom of God's grace my friend! You are forgiven and brand new! It would be awesome if you could comment here and let me know too :-) Blessings to all! Get out of that trap and walk in freedom today!
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