Moths and Windows

When I was at Blue Haven last week, I was living in the front corner of the barn.  The restrooms in the barn are at the back, so I had to walk through the barn to get to the bathroom, either that or up the hill to the boys shower room. So obviously I used the one it the barn more frequently. One night on my way back through the barn, I came to the window next to the front door and saw a large moth FRANTICALLY trying to fly through the window. Obviously he wasn’t making very much progress. It made me think of how futile our own plight against sin is. 


We are often exactly like that moth, we see freedom, and we want it so badly, yet we just continuosly get blocked by the clear glass pane that is our sin. The temptations that satan keeps placing in our way, which give the illusion of freedom, become the shackles of our slavery.  People, in their right minds, don’t generally leave a building through the window, yet we look through these windows that tempt us with glimpses of the outside world and think they are the way to freedom.

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free? Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” -John 8:31-34

“The acts of the sinful nature are OBVIOUS: Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will NOT inherit the kingdom.” -Galatians 5:19-21

We chase after relationships, money, drugs and alcohol, success, approval from our peers, and physical pleasure thinking that once we attain these things we will be free, that we will no longer be oppressed, but we just bounce right off the window EVERY time. Again and again we bounce off the window. We claim that humanity is more advanced than all of the bugs and the insects, yet we can't even find the door, we see the light through the window, like the moths, and just run right into it.


After probably 30 seconds of frantic pounding on different parts of the window by the moth, he stopped. The moth rested on the window sill and just sat. Obviously exhausted from its ill-conceived attempt at freeing itself.


Seeing that it would certainly not find freedom on its own, I decided that I should try and help it out the door. I went to pick it up and it frantically began flying again trying to get out the window, flying away from me, trying to give it freedom. After much difficulty and pursuit on my part, I finally caught the moth and was able to carefully put it outside, where it was meant to be free, and it flew away immediately.


God created us for freedom. NOT to be trapped forever by sin. When God made adam and eve, they were free to be in community with God and enjoy the world that he created for them. They were even free from being ashamed of their nakedness. When we become slaves to sin we are living outside of our created purpose. Not only this, but when God is CHASING US DOWN, trying to make us free, we tend to jump around and say "No! I'm so close, just let me try this one more thing!" Heres the deal though, God knows where the door is, and He knows that we will never make it to freedom through the window. We'll just beat ourselves to death against the glass. 


Ever see a pile of dead flies and moths at the base of a window? The pile of death left by our temptations and sins should be warning enough that it's not going to work, but just like the bugs we rush into the window time and time again. If we just let Him do His thing, God wants to take us out the door and to freedom!

 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.." -Romans 3:23-24

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the tresspass. For if the many died by the tresspass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the figt of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: THe judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the tresspass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one tresspass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

-Romans 5:12-21




Romans 6 addresses how we are to glorify God by living within the purpose for which he created us. 

“What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? BY NO MEANS! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life. IF we have been united with him like this in death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he CANNOT DIE AGAIN; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the SAME WAY, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey —whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin,you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 6:1-23

This week, we celebrated freedom as a country, but don’t forget that we are Citizens of the kingdom of God, we ought to celebrate OUR freedom every day, because Jesus died once to set us free for eternity. We celebrate this sacrifice and our freedom by being slaves to righteousness and by glorifying God with our words and actions EVERY DAY. God has made us to be FREE. NOT to be slaves to sin.


Oh here's the moth...