When the Cage Door Opens

Got time for a new idea in blogging?  I have a triplet of posts that I want you to read. 

The first one is a poem/prose from my blog site The Cage.

And then, from Morning Notes you’ll find this – The Cage – a post offering hope and encouragement.

And finally, from Internet Church – we find When the Cage Door Opens – offering hope from God’s word.  I liked this idea, thanks to Seth Godin’s book What to Do When It’s Your Turn.  The basic idea is Seth’s, but wrapped in my words, and inspiration from The Bible in Internet Church.

I hope you read all three.  I especially hope you share at least one of them with someone who might feel caught in some kind of trap and need to find an escape.  Enjoy.

Cages are traps.  Cages are snares.  Cages take away one’s freedom.  Oh, we long to be free if ever we are caught in a cage.

And so it goes.  The Bible has a lot to say on this subject.  In our limited space, I can only touch on the highlights. 

In the spiritual realm, there are cages just waiting for us to fall into.  Shall I name a few?

Lust

Lying

Stealing

Adultery

Falsifying the truth

Intentional deception

Oh, there are others.  I’m not focusing on the cages as much as I want to focus on getting free of the cages. 

The great news of the gospel is this … I haven’t found any limiting number of how many times God will offer us forgiveness when we become entrapped in the cages of sin and disobedience.  If it was, say twenty times and no more, surely we should have deciphered the code by now.  The best answer I can give is a two-part answer. 

In the New Testament, Jesus is asked about forgiveness.  His response is astounding.

70 times 7.  In pure mathematics that equals 490 – and Jesus wasn’t giving an exact number.

He was looking down through the ages, at all of us, and basically saying, “my grace is sufficient for you.  My forgiveness is enough for all you may do.  So come back, again and again and receive whatever measure of forgiveness you may need.”

He saw the cages in which you and I can become entangled and He wanted to make sure we understood there is enough grace … enough forgiveness to reach each of us, time and time again.

2 Corinthians 12:9 he says:  My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

If I were to take a liberty with this passage, I may say something like this:  “I have so much grace for you that I am going to open the door to this cage, this trap you are in, and I will set you free.  You will experience my power, even in the middle of your weakness.”

~Cages limit

~They cut off opportunities

~They imprison

~They bind us and imprison us

Jesus says, “I have come so that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”

That sounds like He holds the keys to any cage we face.

It takes boldness to come to Christ in the mess of our cages.  It takes humbleness. 

And on the other side of the cage door, we find an outstretched hand and in that hand we see keys that fit the lock to our cage.

And the door opens … and we are set free.

Now … take a step toward your Redeemer.

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