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The Cave

By Guy K. Henry

www.GuyHenry.com

(Revised June 14, 2009)

“Oh, this is a lovely day for a hike through the woods!” Fred sighed as he walked down the scenic trail. He was excited as he came across all sorts of beautiful flowers and plants.

He had been walking for hours, but he never got bored. Every time he got used to the scenery, he’d find something new and interesting to look at. As the day passed, Fred enjoyed many types of delicious berries. He’d taken a refreshing drink from an ice-cold spring. He’d seen beautiful views that caused him to stifle his breath.

Everything was going great until he came upon a little sign on the side of the path. Fred stopped in front of it and read aloud, “STAY AWAY FROM THE CAVE.”

“A cave, I really like caves!” he said as a smile grew upon his face. “I am going to have to check this cave out.”

With that Fred left the trail and walked in the direction of the cave. Before very long he found himself standing in front of another sign. This one was bigger than the first sign. It said, “DANGER! THE CAVE IS UNSAFE!”

“Bah! I don’t believe that!” Fred said aloud. “I’ll bet that cave is full of wonderful treasures,” he said. “People put those signs up because they do not want me to enjoy all the goodies in the cave!” Soon the sign was behind him.

A few moments later Fred came upon an even larger sign. It said, “WARNING! EXTREAMLY DANGEROUS CAVE AHEAD! TURN BACK NOW!”

Fred scratched his head. “This cave must surely be fantastic for people to put up so many scary signs!” With that he boldly marched on past the sign.

After a little while Fred arrived at the cave. It was not what he had expected. At the entrance of the cave was the biggest and most colorful sign yet. This sign did not tell him to go away. Instead it read, “Welcome To Our Cave! Come On In! Make Yourself At Home!”

“Well, isn’t that nice!” Fred said. “Up until now I thought that caves were dark and scary places. This one actually looks inviting.”

In fact this was a very different type of cave. For one thing, there were bright lights everywhere. Also, from deep inside the cave, Fred heard what sounded like party music. “I just knew it, I knew it! People did put up those scary signs because they wanted me to miss out on all this fun!”

With that Fred stepped into the cave. As he did, a thought nagged him. “What if those signs were telling the truth?” For a very short time he considered turning back.

As he pondered, the wonderful smell of pizza met his nose. “Woo-Hoo!” Fred shouted, “I’m going to get me some of that pizza!” Fred was no longer walking. Now he was skipping down into the cave to the beat of the music singing, “Party! Party! Party!”

After a minute of happily skipping into the cave, Fred noticed that something was happening. From behind him the light seemed to be changing. He stopped and slowly turned his head. Fred watched the lights turn off, one at a time. “Click, Click, Click.” It got darker and darker until the very last light bulb flickered off. Now the darkness surrounded Fred. “Hey!” he shouted, “stop fooling around with the lights, I could trip and hurt myself. I can not see a thing!”

The only answer was the echo of his own voice bouncing off the stone walls of the cave, “See a Thing, a thing, thing, ng, ng…”

For the first time, Fred began to feel afraid. Then he had an idea. “I will just follow the sound of the party music,” he thought, “I am going to be just fine. There is nothing to worry about.” Fred started to relax and breathe easier.

That plan might have worked, but the music suddenly clicked off. The sounds of the party music quickly faded away. Now all that Fred could hear was his own heart pounding in the darkness, “Bump, Bump……Bump, Bump”

“This is not funny!” Fred angrily shouted into the dark. “I am not laughing! Whoever you are, you can stop fooling around right now!”

Fred had one more idea. “OK, I know what I will do. I’ll follow that wonderful smell of pizza!” he softly whispered.

It almost worked. Fred filled his nose with air. For the first few breaths he smelled wonderful pepperoni pizza. “Nothing bad is going to happen to me!” Fred assured himself.

A few steps later the smell of pizza suddenly changed to that of a choking onion.

The onion smells made Fred’s eyes water. After a moment his onion tears turned into real tears of sadness.

Fred was afraid of the dark. The feeling of being all alone in this terrible cave was unbearable. Fred was aware that he was completely lost. He knew that he could never find his way out of the cave. He collapsed to his knees and loudly cried out, “Save me! Oh, please SAVE ME! I need someone to save me!!!”

This odd cave reminds me of how sin works. You see, if sin were a slimy, smelly, snotty blob, not many people would mess with it. Instead sin masquerades as something attractive. Since different things attract different people, sin comes in all types of forms.

First of all, what is sin? I’ve heard some describe it as black spots on your heart. Whatever that means, it is probably more a matter for the cardiologist than scripture. We don’t have to use abstract pictures to describe sin. Simply put, sin is the things we do that are in disobedience to what God has said in His word, the Bible. When we know what God wants us to do, and yet decide to do it our own way, that is sin.

Secondly, sin is a liar. It always presents to us as something attractive. Sin promises us things that it will never deliver. For example, one may be tempted to steal money. We justify that we need the money. Having the money will help us get the things we want. If we would only take the money, many problems would be fixed. This is a lie. For one, getting caught stealing will result in much punishment. Even if one is not caught, guilt will enter our lives and cause all sorts of problems. Lastly, it seems that stealing once, leads us to steal again. Our greed is never satisfied.

Let me use another example of sin’s deception. The number one reason that people fail to tell the truth is that they think telling a lie will keep them from facing trouble. Anyone who has been around will tell you that one little lie will soon need many more lies to support it. When a lie is found out, trust is lost. Friendships can even be ended. Lies hurt.

Whether it be stealing or lying, the promised benefits never materialize. All that is left is the hurt of sin. Again, sin is a liar!

Thirdly, sin is a problem. There are no little sins and big sins. They all put us in the same place. Many people think, “a loving God would never send anyone to hell”. They are thinking of the sin problem the wrong way. When we sin, we are asserting our will over God’s perfect will. We are rejecting God’s law and making one up of our own. It is not reasonable to expect to flaunt God’s commands for a lifetime, and then without consequence spend eternity with Him. God isn’t able to ignore our disobedience. God has a perfect sense of justice. Wrong cannot go unpunished.

Lastly, God has provided a way to lift our sins off of our record, and still satisfy that perfect justice. That way is Jesus. He had no sin of His own, yet still he died. He chose to die, whereas we have to die. Since He didn’t deserve death, but chose it, we can claim his sacrificial death as our method of being cleansed from our sin. Wow! When we:

- believe that Jesus died for sin

- and then we trust this gift He extends to us to take us to heaven

- and we ask Him to do this work in our lives …

… We can experience the impossible. We are instantly forgiven of every sin in our lives. We are immediately claimed as God’s children. We are guaranteed an eternity with our God!

Has sin got you trapped? Are you lost in sin? Don’t try and navigate out of the sin. You can’t. Instead, humbly accept Jesus’ amazing love gift to you. Take His death as your covering for sin. Doing that is the one and only way to find freedom from sin.

James 1:14-15 outlines how sin occurs in our lives.

(14) But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. (15) Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

We go from temptation to lust and desire. That desire (which is riddled in lies) grows into sin when we act on it. Lastly, that sin yields death.

Was it not for Jesus that would be the sad ending of this story. Happily, Jesus is our rescuer! When we call out to Him, He hears and stands in our place.

What did you think? I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment in my Guest Book.

The Email address is entirely optional. If you include it, you and I can correspond. I will not use it for any other purpose, nor allow it to be displayed on the internet nor allow anyone else access to it! I hate spam too!

Please note that thanks to SPAMMERS, entries will not be visible in the guestbook until I manually add them.

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			The Cave The Cave By Guy K. Henry www.GuyHenry.com (Revised June 14, 2009) “Oh, this is a lovely day for a hike through the woods!” Fred sighed as he walked down the scenic trail. He was excited as he came across all sorts of beautiful flowers and plants. He had been walking for hours, but he never got bored. Every time he got used to the scenery, he’d find something new and interesting to look at. As the day passed, Fred enjoyed many types of delicious berries. He’d taken a refreshing drink from an ice-cold spring. He’d seen beautiful views that caused him to stifle his breath. Everything was going great until he came upon a little sign on the side of the path. Fred stopped in front of it and read aloud, “STAY AWAY FROM THE CAVE.” “A cave, I really like caves!” he said as a smile grew upon his face. “I am going to have to check this cave out.” With that Fred left the trail and walked in the direction of the cave. Before very long he found himself standing in front of another sign. This one was bigger than the first sign. It said, “DANGER! THE CAVE IS UNSAFE!” “Bah! I don’t believe that!” Fred said aloud. “I’ll bet that cave is full of wonderful treasures,” he said. “People put those signs up because they do not want me to enjoy all the goodies in the cave!” Soon the sign was behind him. A few moments later Fred came upon an even larger sign. It said, “WARNING! EXTREAMLY DANGEROUS CAVE AHEAD! TURN BACK NOW!” Fred scratched his head. “This cave must surely be fantastic for people to put up so many scary signs!” With that he boldly marched on past the sign. After a little while Fred arrived at the cave. It was not what he had expected. At the entrance of the cave was the biggest and most colorful sign yet. This sign did not tell him to go away. Instead it read, “Welcome To Our Cave! Come On In! Make Yourself At Home!” “Well, isn’t that nice!” Fred said. “Up until now I thought that caves were dark and scary places. This one actually looks inviting.” In fact this was a very different type of cave. For one thing, there were bright lights everywhere. Also, from deep inside the cave, Fred heard what sounded like party music. “I just knew it, I knew it! People did put up those scary signs because they wanted me to miss out on all this fun!” With that Fred stepped into the cave. As he did, a thought nagged him. “What if those signs were telling the truth?” For a very short time he considered turning back. As he pondered, the wonderful smell of pizza met his nose. “Woo-Hoo!” Fred shouted, “I’m going to get me some of that pizza!” Fred was no longer walking. Now he was skipping down into the cave to the beat of the music singing, “Party! Party! Party!” After a minute of happily skipping into the cave, Fred noticed that something was happening. From behind him the light seemed to be changing. He stopped and slowly turned his head. Fred watched the lights turn off, one at a time. “Click, Click, Click.” It got darker and darker until the very last light bulb flickered off. Now the darkness surrounded Fred. “Hey!” he shouted, “stop fooling around with the lights, I could trip and hurt myself. I can not see a thing!” The only answer was the echo of his own voice bouncing off the stone walls of the cave, “See a Thing, a thing, thing, ng, ng…” For the first time, Fred began to feel afraid. Then he had an idea. “I will just follow the sound of the party music,” he thought, “I am going to be just fine. There is nothing to worry about.” Fred started to relax and breathe easier. That plan might have worked, but the music suddenly clicked off. The sounds of the party music quickly faded away. Now all that Fred could hear was his own heart pounding in the darkness, “Bump, Bump……Bump, Bump” “This is not funny!” Fred angrily shouted into the dark. “I am not laughing! Whoever you are, you can stop fooling around right now!” Fred had one more idea. “OK, I know what I will do. I’ll follow that wonderful smell of pizza!” he softly whispered. It almost worked. Fred filled his nose with air. For the first few breaths he smelled wonderful pepperoni pizza. “Nothing bad is going to happen to me!” Fred assured himself. A few steps later the smell of pizza suddenly changed to that of a choking onion. The onion smells made Fred’s eyes water. After a moment his onion tears turned into real tears of sadness. Fred was afraid of the dark. The feeling of being all alone in this terrible cave was unbearable. Fred was aware that he was completely lost. He knew that he could never find his way out of the cave. He collapsed to his knees and loudly cried out, “Save me! Oh, please SAVE ME! I need someone to save me!!!” This odd cave reminds me of how sin works. You see, if sin were a slimy, smelly, snotty blob, not many people would mess with it. Instead sin masquerades as something attractive. Since different things attract different people, sin comes in all types of forms. First of all, what is sin? I’ve heard some describe it as black spots on your heart. Whatever that means, it is probably more a matter for the cardiologist than scripture. We don’t have to use abstract pictures to describe sin. Simply put, sin is the things we do that are in disobedience to what God has said in His word, the Bible. When we know what God wants us to do, and yet decide to do it our own way, that is sin. Secondly, sin is a liar. It always presents to us as something attractive. Sin promises us things that it will never deliver. For example, one may be tempted to steal money. We justify that we need the money. Having the money will help us get the things we want. If we would only take the money, many problems would be fixed. This is a lie. For one, getting caught stealing will result in much punishment. Even if one is not caught, guilt will enter our lives and cause all sorts of problems. Lastly, it seems that stealing once, leads us to steal again. Our greed is never satisfied. Let me use another example of sin’s deception. The number one reason that people fail to tell the truth is that they think telling a lie will keep them from facing trouble. Anyone who has been around will tell you that one little lie will soon need many more lies to support it. When a lie is found out, trust is lost. Friendships can even be ended. Lies hurt. Whether it be stealing or lying, the promised benefits never materialize. All that is left is the hurt of sin. Again, sin is a liar! Thirdly, sin is a problem. There are no little sins and big sins. They all put us in the same place. Many people think, “a loving God would never send anyone to hell”. They are thinking of the sin problem the wrong way. When we sin, we are asserting our will over God’s perfect will. We are rejecting God’s law and making one up of our own. It is not reasonable to expect to flaunt God’s commands for a lifetime, and then without consequence spend eternity with Him. God isn’t able to ignore our disobedience. God has a perfect sense of justice. Wrong cannot go unpunished. Lastly, God has provided a way to lift our sins off of our record, and still satisfy that perfect justice. That way is Jesus. He had no sin of His own, yet still he died. He chose to die, whereas we have to die. Since He didn’t deserve death, but chose it, we can claim his sacrificial death as our method of being cleansed from our sin. Wow! When we: - believe that Jesus died for sin - and then we trust this gift He extends to us to take us to heaven - and we ask Him to do this work in our lives … … We can experience the impossible. We are instantly forgiven of every sin in our lives. We are immediately claimed as God’s children. We are guaranteed an eternity with our God! Has sin got you trapped? Are you lost in sin? Don’t try and navigate out of the sin. You can’t. Instead, humbly accept Jesus’ amazing love gift to you. Take His death as your covering for sin. Doing that is the one and only way to find freedom from sin. James 1:14-15 outlines how sin occurs in our lives. (14) But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. (15) Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. We go from temptation to lust and desire. That desire (which is riddled in lies) grows into sin when we act on it. Lastly, that sin yields death. Was it not for Jesus that would be the sad ending of this story. Happily, Jesus is our rescuer! When we call out to Him, He hears and stands in our place. What did you think? I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment in my Guest Book. The Email address is entirely optional. If you include it, you and I can correspond. I will not use it for any other purpose, nor allow it to be displayed on the internet nor allow anyone else access to it! I hate spam too! Please note that thanks to SPAMMERS, entries will not be visible in the guestbook until I manually add them. " " Name: e-mail: (Optional! Will not be displayed publicly) To prevent SPAM, please enter the letters found in the picture below: Lower case, Upper Case, It doesn't matter at all! Message: View The Guest Book