Every year about this time the edges of my yard begin to fill up with spider webs. I guess the spiders are loading up on insects to get them through the winter months, but it feels like they got the memo that Halloween is coming. Most of the spiders are harmless, and I love to see the intricate symmetry of their webs. They only give me the heebie-jeebies when I walk into one and get spider web all over my face. I can only imagine what a helpless mosquito feels like when trapped on the sticky string.
Watching a moth attempt to get away from a spider’s snare the other day reminded me of a testimony shared by a new believer. The man had lost his right arm and leg in a motorcycle accident years ago. He continued his career as an artist but had run out of space in his house, so he began building a workshop in his backyard. He did some of the work himself and contracted some projects he was unable to do. He found a local electrician to wire the shop, but the electrician didn’t stop there. He came back the next week with a group of men from his church to hang and finish the sheetrock. Then they came back the next week to paint. Then they helped him move all his furnishings and supplies into the building – all for free.
The recipient of all this attention shared with me that it was like being caught up in a web of love. Everywhere he turned, he ran into someone else demonstrating the love of Christ. He finally realized he was not going to escape these Christians and discovered that he didn’t want to. He made his way to church and to a relationship with Jesus.
As I read the description of the early church in Acts 2, I can picture this web of love. There was teaching and fellowship going on. The members sold property and gave to anyone who had need. They met together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes. Everywhere you turned, there were these Christians demonstrating the love of Christ.
As believers in Jesus, we can spin a web of love as well. Our words and actions – woven together with those of other Christians – should make it impossible for someone not to get “caught up” in a relationship with us and ultimately with Jesus. Showing love is never out of season.
By Dr. Jim Baldwin