Mr. and Mrs. Anderson had just moved the family into a new home out in the country. They had four very active children, and how happy they were to find a place to live where there was lots of room for the children to play.
One day Mr. and Mrs. Anderson decided to clear out some of the brush that hid part of the small woods on their land. They felt it was important for their children to know just where they could play safely.
As they were working, Mrs. Anderson suddenly felt a sharp pain in her foot. At the same time something flew up and stung her on the arm too. She had accidentally stepped into a yellow jackets’ nest! Those wasps were so angry that they kept flying in circles around both parents. Before they could get away, Mr. Anderson got stung on his face and Mrs. Anderson got stung several more times on her arms and legs. How those stings did hurt!
Yellow jackets are wasps that sometimes make their nests in holes in the ground. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were so glad that they had found the wasps’ nest first and that it was not the children who had found it and gotten stung. When they went back to the house to take care of their wasp stings, they warned the children to stay away from that dangerous place.
Mr. Anderson got a can of insect spray and went back to the nest and sprayed it to kill the wasps. But it is hard to kill all the wasps with one spraying. During the day some of the wasps are out flying around and don’t come back until dark. It would take more than one spraying, perhaps every few days, before all the wasps would be killed and the nest could be cleaned out.
We hope the children paid attention to their parents’ warning! It would still be a dangerous place until all the wasps could be killed. “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother” (Proverbs 6:2020My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: (Proverbs 6:20)). “Children, obey your parents in all things” (Colossians 3:2020Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)).
The next day both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson’s wasp stings were badly swollen. Mrs. Anderson couldn’t even put on her shoe, so they both went to the doctor to get help. The doctor said that yellow jackets were known as “dirty wasps” because they eat rotten fruit and other garbage.
Soon Mr. and Mrs. Anderson’s stings were much better. The next time the family sang this little song, they remembered those “dirty wasps” and how easy it is to step into dangerous places.
Oh, be careful, little feet,
where you go;
Oh, be careful, little feet,
where you go;
There’s a Father up above
looking down in tender love:
Oh, be careful, little feet,
where you go.
The pathways of this world have many hidden traps of sin placed by Satan where danger waits for any passing by. For those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, there is a safe way around those hidden dangers. The Bible is our map that shows us that way; “Thy word [the Bible] is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105105NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)).
But those who have refused to accept the Lord Jesus as their Saviour have no map to show them the safe way around the dangerous places. They step right into Satan’s hidden traps and get stung. And Satan’s stings lead to death; “the sting of death is sin” (1 Corinthians 15:56). “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:1212There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12)).
Have you found the safe way? Is the Lord Jesus your Saviour?
ML-10/14/2007