John was a young man who enjoyed farming. On this particular day, he was disking, which turns the soil over. He went back and forth across the field, working the soil so that it would be loose and fine and ready for planting.
At break time, John went over to watch where his partner was digging a ditch with a backhoe. The big machine dug into the ground and scooped out big piles of soil. As John watched he saw a couple of snakes. Curious to find out what kind they were, he picked them up and put them inside his toolbox up on his tractor. Then it was time to get back to work.
For several more hours John worked the fields. And meanwhile, unknown to him, inside the closed toolbox, which was near the tractor’s warm, noisy engine, the snakes wriggled and writhed and coiled up.
At supper time, having driven his tractor to the shop, John called to the other workers to come see the snakes he had caught. He lifted the lid of the toolbox and the snakes shot up out of the box and hissed angrily! John jumped down from the tractor, his heart beating fast.
We all know that snakes can be dangerous, and most of us are frightened of them. The Bible tells us that Satan is dangerous and an enemy to be resisted. In fact, the Bible calls Satan a serpent, or snake. “That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” Revelation 12:99And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9). Do not think that you can fool around with Satan and sin. If you think that you can handle sin a little bit, just to see what it is like, you will soon find that it is far too powerful and dangerous for you. God’s Word, the Bible, always instructs us to “depart from evil.” Proverbs 3:77Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:7). It also instructs us to “enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” Proverbs 4:14,1514Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. (Proverbs 4:14‑15). We read in Proverbs 7:77And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, (Proverbs 7:7) of a young man who went to an evil place, and he was called “a young man void of understanding.” That means he was foolish and not wise.
John found out that one of the snakes he had caught was a poisonous water moccasin! He and his friends killed the snake, and were thankful that none of them had been bitten by it.
ML-02/13/1994