Web of Deceit

“Welcome to my parlor, said the Spider to the Fly.”  This is an old English Nursery Rhyme, and the thought is that the Spider is offering such wonderful benefits, just come into my parlor dear little fly, come sit at my dining room table, just make yourself at home, diner will be served shortly, but the Fly omits to ask what is for diner, for the Spider is going to feast upon the Fly so very shortly.  The Spider is spreading a “Web of deceit,” he is offering a hot meal and fellowship, but who eats who?  Who or what is endeavoring to entangle you in a “Web of Deceit?”  What is this web of lies and half-truths that are being seductively whispered into your ears, smooth talk, glorious pleasures and wonderful experiences, but what is the end result, and for whom, which one gets to live, and what are the real benefits?

Eve in the Garden of Eden, had a Spider up a tree whispering and implying sweet promises of enlightenment and heightened experiences, then she quickly discovered that she was fully entrapped in a “Web of Sin, lies, deceit and destruction,” and God was true as recorded in Genesis 2:17b “for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”  And she did die that very day, burnt upon the funeral pyre of death, [an altar of sacrifice, wages of sin] she stood there shocked as she burnt up, well her sacrificial substitute actually did, and she stood there clothed in its very skin, she lived, it died in her place, pointing forwards to Calvary. Genesis 3:21 “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Are the whisperings and promises you hear, are they unto life or unto death, is the web surrounding you, drawing you in, deeper and deeper, closer and closer, strands of lies, little innocent little strings that progressively get woven into huge ropes that bind you, they then drag you down under their weight, they becoming a web of entrapment, they are spreading everywhere, binding up everything, or are they cords of love, commitment, compassion and life?  Hosea 11:4 “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was unto them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.”  1 John 3:16-18 “Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels [of compassion] from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”        

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 JB Phillips, “With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”    

As a wise old sage once said; “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”  So much sorrow and harm has been carried out on people and nations, when someone acts just like Satan, and starts to weave a web of deception.  This is where arguments, separation, division, assaults, murders, wars and so much other strife come from, inevitably it all stems from a web of deception and manipulation. For you to spin a good story, you must firstly have a big yarn.  Your story must have been imaginative, colorful, tickles their interest, and then draws them into making a commitment.  “There are none so Blind as they who will not see.”  Who or what is seducing you, therefore beckoning you, or has already got you in its web of deceit, and is binding you more and more in its prison house of corruption, for you to be their diner.  Song of Solomon 2:4 “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me [was] love.” 

What or who is weaving a “Web of Entrapment” for your feet?  Is there a “Web of Sin” being planned to ensnare you, that will consume you away?  We so desperately need a “Web of Love” those “Cords of Compassion.” Hosea 11:4 ERV “I led them with ropes, but they were ropes of love.  I was like a person who set them free.  I bent down and fed them.”  Romans 5:8 ERV “But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.”  God is pleading with us to stay away from the web of sin, deceit, sorrow and death, so why do we stray onto unsafe ground and into Satan’s web of deceit?  God is calling us, the Holy Spirit is pleading with us, Jesus died on Calvary to redeem us, so why do we not rush into his arms and be bound by his cords of love and compassion, fully healing the body and the soul?So what or who has their beady little eyes focused upon you?  Who is currently weaving a web of deceit and entrapment, something to entangle your feet, to get you off track, “Welcome to my parlor, said the Spider to the Fly.”