Spider webs are sad for butterflies. Many butterflies lose their lives in spider webs.
A few days ago I walked into an area of the garden and saw this sight; a Viceroy butterfly caught in a spider web. As usual, my camera was strapped to me and I stopped to take a photo. I reached up to remove the web and realized this Viceroy was still alive! I gently removed the webbing and let it fly. No problem; it was READY to go! Normally the butterfly is struggling and I know it is alive without touching it.
I thought about all the butterflies I find in webs that are dead; obviously dead.
As I thought about the butterfly over the next fews days, I thought about all the butterflies that struggled to get loose and either was killed by the spider or, if the web was old, just starved in the web. Yes, they're 'just insects' but I have a strong emotional attachment to these winged beauties! I always am thrilled when I know that I saved one.
'Saved' one. I keep thinking how Christians use words that people who did not grow up in a Christian church or family have trouble understanding. Christian terms are often like a foreign language. 'Saved' is a Christian term, too.
Christians say, "I'm saved" and to those who don't understand Christian language, it sounds very odd. What are we saved from? How are we saved?
Having grown up in a Christian home where God was as real as anything else in this world, I was kept from a lot of things that many people have had to battle. But even so, I was born with a carnal nature; selfish and without thoughts for God or others. People ask me about that; what do I mean that I was born selfish? The answer is simple. Watch any child. 'Mine' is often the first word a younger child learns. Older siblings tend to take their toys because the younger one isn't strong enough to hold on to it. Older siblings often clearly show that selfish 'me' nature.
Selfishness is normal; for most children, sharing is a taught action.
A child that doesn't throw a temper tantrum, doesn't take what doesn't belong to her, that does her chores, that never lies, that .... well, the list goes on ... that child doesn't exist. Every child has to learn to fit into society and live by the rules of unselfishness. That's the carnal nature that we are all born with. Yes, some are naturally more generous than others but even so, every one is born with the 'me' attitude.
I'm thankful that I have been 'saved'. Once I was old enough to understand about God and Jesus, I had the choice of turning from the nature that was natural in me and to ask for forgiveness and ask God to lead me for the rest of my life. Learning to leave the old nature behind was/is a slow process. Even now, at 53, I find the old nature is still here. (Especially when chocolate is around! Grin) But I know that God will welcome me when I die - to join him for eternity. Things will be the way HE intended it from the beginning!
I'm thankful for the one who 'saved' me.
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