What about those snakes?
This past weekend, my husband and I worked on the parsonage house that we are working hard to get ready for our soon move in. While I worked on the inside, my husband spent the day working outside; picking up sticks, moving rocks, picking up litter and weed eating and mowing. During this all day process, he came across not one snake, but five!
Apparently, because the grass had not been mowed, those sneaky little snakes were taking up residence where we had not noticed. They sneakily went unnoticed up until now. But the whack of the weed-eater brought them out from hiding.
Sin, is just like those snakes. Sin can exist for a very long time, unnoticed, as it slithers through our thoughts, but it is only a matter of time before the Holy Spirit reveals our sinfulness to us as we are pray, read God’s Holy Word or listen to wise counsel from our mature fellow Christian friends.
When we pray as David prayed…
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts; see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24)
…we can expect the Holy Spirit to show us those ugly snakes that have taken up residence in our lives.
Sometimes, we have no idea that the little things that we brush off as human nature, or as someone else’s fault, or the things we claim to be our rights can be considered sin. Additionally, we never imagine that those little sins, the snakes in our lives, can become so incredibly dangerous, enough to eventually kill us.
But thankfully, God assures us that when we recognize we are sinners and repent, He surely forgives us and the snakes in our life will flee.
1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Also, in James 4:7, the Bible tells us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
So unlike the snakes in our backyard that may or may not come slithering back, the snakes that we put under the blood have no chance of returning.
But we cannot rely upon our own wisdom as to how rid ourselves of this venom, we can never rely upon our own wisdom for in Proverbs 3:5-6 its says,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding, but, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
When you think about it, a snake cannot slither straight for long. It slithers sneakily and stays curled up for easy escape. Keep your eyes on the straight and narrow, the path that God leads you on, it will never mislead you, trick you or poison you.
What kind of snakes are attacking you? Do all that is necessary to keep the snakes out of your backyard AND out of your life.
BLESSINGS!
Good post.
Great comparison to sin in our lives.
Great analogy about the snakes in our life. We do need to be careful and let God clean out those snakes.