My daughter’s garden was dry and needed to be watered. That was something I knew how to do. It was just a matter of unwinding the hose, attaching a sprayer and then turning on the faucet. After finishing the first two steps, turning on the faucet was next. However, a plastic flowerpot was turned upside down over the faucet, so I picked it up by the bottom and turned it over to set it down. Then I noticed something inside in the very bottom ... and an alarm went off in my head. It was a black spider, and I was remembering a warning I had been given. It could be a black widow spider, so I gently set the flowerpot on the ground and went to get my daughter. I was hoping Grace could tell just by looking at it.
I had been told that black widows hide in dark places, but I had only seen what one looks like in pictures. I didn’t live in this part of the country where people come upon them, hiding in dark corners of their yards or sheds or other outside buildings. But since I had been warned about them, I tried to be watchful when doing any gardening work, especially getting tools out of the garden shed.
The danger with black widow spiders is that their bite is poisonous and can cause illness, severe pain and sometimes death. If one bites you, you must go to the doctor right away to get help. You don’t wait around, hoping it will get better on its own. And that’s something like sin. The Bible says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:44Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)). And since we are all sinners, we need help, because our sins don’t go away on their own. Doctors can help us with poisonous spider bites, but they can’t do anything for us about our sins. Only one Person can remove our sins: “The blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). Another verse says, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).
Grace had seen black widow spiders in her backyard, so she knew what to look for. On the underside of these spiders is a red or yellow marking in the shape of an hourglass. But how do you turn them over to look for the marking without getting bitten? She knew what to do. She bumped the spider out of the flowerpot onto the ground. It landed on its back, and we got a glimpse of that small, red marking before it quickly flipped over again and started running. She already had a long-handled tool in her hands to kill it before it got away. End of poisonous spider, and a happy ending to the story.
But will your life have a happy ending in heaven? Not if you die in your sins. God faithfully tells us where those people will spend eternity: “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)). God’s book of life has the names of every boy and girl and grown-up who has had their sins washed away in the blood of Jesus. Their lives will have a happy ending in the joy of heaven, forever with their loving Saviour Jesus.
If a black widow spider bit you, would you go to a doctor right away? I expect your answer is, “Yes, of course!” So what are you going to do about your sins? Dying in your sins is far, far worse than a poisonous spider bite! Your sins will take you into a lost eternity forever—away from the God who loves you so much. Why not pray to the Lord Jesus right now? Tell Him, from your heart, that you are sorry for all your sins and that you want Him to wash them away. This is too serious a matter to put off.
ML-10/03/2010