Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The Ensnaring Nets


UV 2164/10000 The Ensnaring Nets
Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
Psalm 25 v 15

The manger leader or manager always focuses his attention on the Lord. He knows that He is the locus of life around which he can draw a perfect circle. Any other locus would make our lives shapeless, purposeless, meaningless. The reason the Lord is the locus is that He is the only One who cared so much for us, He sent Jesus to deliver us from all of life’s ills. He is the only One who knows our past, present and future. He is the only One who knows the future of the entire world. He is the Only One who knows our hearts thoroughly and searches it frequently.
When we lift up our hearts to the Lord, He sees the burdens that the world and the enemy of our souls have loaded on us. He sees the traps, the snares that the enemy has planned and set against us. When we lift our hearts to the powerful, rich, influential in the world, they would surely let us down. These too are in similar predicaments and are not able to discern their own fate or future. People are too busy trying to improve their net worth without realizing that they may be trapped in the very same net of their pursuits. The enemy is subtle as a bird hunter and tries to get our liberating wings of prayer and the Word caught in the loops of his net. Often, we get ensnared by our own lusts, our own attitudes, our own thoughts, words, actions and desires. But, as we lift our hearts to the Lord, He has compassion on us for we are His creatures, we are His children purchased or redeemed with the blood of His precious Son. The worldly leader or manager gets no reliable help from any other person for all are blind like him but the manger leader or manager gets the help of the Lord. Our eyes need to be completely focussed on the Lord. As Peter began to walk on the water, he took his eyes off Jesus for a split second and he was overcome by fear of drowning and began to sink. Jesus extended his hand while walking on the water and rescued Peter. Likewise, when the disciples were caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee, they panicked and cried out to Jesus who was sleeping peacefully in a corner of the boat. Jesus rose and spoke to the storm, “Be calm” and the winds and the waves obeyed Him and became peaceful. Often, we are caught in a net of fears. The Lord calms our fears and sets us free.

I just saw a video of a man in a boat who sees a sea turtle desperately struggling against a portion of a net that had entangled its limbs. The man reached out to the turtle, took it in his lap, cut through the net, freed the turtle, kissed it on the nostril before releasing it back into the open sea. The enemy of our souls has a variety of devices to ensnare us. The Lord is able to deliver us from every one of these. He either cuts through the ensnaring net or He pulls us out of the net. He kisses us as a sign of His great love and then sets us free.

Prateep V Philip

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