Trapped!

There is a beautiful-looking plant by this name which, though very attractive, means death to bugs and insects!

The plant is shaped like a tall pitcher - small at the bottom and larger at the top. It secretes a fluid that attracts insects, and which they find delicious. Drawn by the compelling fragrance of the fluid, various bugs, flies, and insects enter the mouth of the "pitcher" and begin feasting on the tasty liquid. Desiring more, these unsuspecting creatures crawl farther down into the pitcher plant.

Tiny, slippery, downward-pointing spikes on the inside of the pitcher do not hinder downward progress, but they block the way up, these slippery spikes resists every effort - escape is impossible! Finally, exhausted, the struggling bug falls to the bottom of the pitcher, where it is drowned and destroyed by the fluid that it so desired!

What a picture this is of the world, sin and Satan. They tempt us with what looks so good and tastes so nice, but which traps, holds captive, and destroys us. They are all deceivers.

Revelation 12:9 says that Satan "deceives the whole world;" the Word of God warns us against the "deceitfulness of sin" in Hebrew 3:13 and 1 John 5:19 tells us that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." We may be sure then that the world around us is full of deceit, since it is under the power of the deceiver, Satan.

Proverbs 20:17 says "Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel." The deceiving things on sin and Satan may be sweet for a while, but the sweet will soon turn bitter. Then you will be held with the cords of your sins (Proverbs 5:22) and be Satan’s prisoner, perishing with him in hell.

But we all have sinned (Romans 3:10,23) and been caught in Satan’s snares. There is only One that can deliver us from sin and Satan’s prison.

The Lord Jesus came into the world "to preach deliverance to the captives" (Luke 4:18) and "to loose those appointed to death" (Psalm 102:20). By dying on the cross and rising from the dead, He defeated Satan, who had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14), and now delivers from Satan’s power all who trust in Him as their Savior.

Jesus died on the cross for sinners and there paid the debt of sin. He endured for us the wages of sin - death. All who accept Him as their personal Savior are freed from the judgment of sin and eternal death. They are also freed from Satan’s bondage, "having been set free from sin" (Romans 6:22), "to become children of God" (John 1:12).

My friend, where are you? Are you in Satan’s bondage, chasing his sweet-tasting, deceiving sins? Or are you saved - set free from sin by Jesus Christ - and serving Him? Take warning from the pitcher plant!

-R.K. Campbell