On Wednesday, a jumping spider appeared on my bedside stand. This little creature "posed" quite nicely for me while I took his picture. However, the pictures still came out somewhat blurry.
You can see her in the picture above, although she did not come out very clear. She was belly side up, and there was a very distinct red hour glass on her tummy. The drawing (from Microsoft Office clip art) in the upper right corner shows a pretty good depiction of what she looks like from the back. She's going to be "fun" to get because she doesn't like the light. As soon as daylight comes or she sees light, she runs under the baseboard.
The male black widow, once accepted by the female an in her web, is doomed to die. The sinner, snared by sin and in its web, is also doomed to die. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:15b) The thing which gave him pleasure was the instrument of his death.
The female black widow also reminds me of the sinner. She is black, just like the sinful heart of man. She does not like light and will look for a dark place to hide. She is shiny and alluring but full of deadly poison. Her bite is dangerous and produces evil results.
In his sinful state, man's heart is darkened. His heart is sinful. He does not like the light but does his sinful deeds in the dark. John 3:19b says that "...men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
Unlike the female black widow, the sinner has hope. Though his heart is dark, there is a light that can penetrate that darkness. That light is God's word. Psalm 119:130 says, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."
When the sinner opens his heart to the light of God's word and believes in Jesus as his Savior, his sin blackened heart loses its stain and becomes as white as snow.
"18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)