In the photo that accompanied the Associated Press story, Trooper Jimmy Rasaphone and Lilah (a golden retriever) are both wet and muddy. But there’s a smile on the New York State Trooper, as well as on the face of Lilah’s owner. After being missing for four days, the retriever had been safely retrieved.
While out walking two other dogs on Sunday morning, the owner heard Lilah barking from inside a culvert. Nothing he did could lure her out; she was deep inside. After calling 911 Trooper Rasaphone arrived and crawled 15 feet into the culvert to rescue the beloved pet.
The path to rescue was described as “an extremely tight fit”, but Rasaphone was somehow able to get a choker around the dog’s neck and lead her out to safety. Why Lilah got into that tight spot will remain a mystery, but the good news is that she is now back home.
If you’ve read the Bible, you’ll agree with my comparison here. When we go for the bait Satan puts before us, we crawl into some pretty nasty “culverts” of sin. Only when it’s too late do we realize that we can’t extricate ourselves. Like Jonah in the belly of the great fish, all we can do is cry out for help, desperately hoping that someone who can help will hear us.
Galatians 4:4,5 tells us that our plight was noticed: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” In those two verses we see One who descended into the mire in which we were stuck to rescue us.
Notice that Jesus was “born of a woman”. The concept of incarnation (God coming to us in the flesh) is mind-boggling. Jesus chose to leave his perfect heavenly home to carry out this rescue mission. He chose to put on a physical body that felt hunger and pain, that could become ill, that could be mocked and spat upon, and that ultimately would be tortured and killed. In crawling through that mire, though, He took the only path possible for our rescue.
Meditate on Hebrews 2:14,15 for a bit: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Without a doubt, Jesus crawled through the mire to pull us out of certain death.
Jesus began the parable of the lost sheep in this way: “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). Elizabeth Clephane envisioned that rescue in the old hymn “The Ninety And Nine”: “’Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way that marks out the mountain’s track?’ ‘They were shed for one who had gone astray ere the Shepherd could bring him back.’ ‘Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?’ ‘They’re pierced tonight by many a thorn.’”
Such truths help us understand the apostle Paul’s resolution: “For the love of Christ compels us … He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15). How could we do any less for One who risked all for us?
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2022, Timothy D. Hall
