Rattlesnake!

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
 
Thirteen boy scouts listened intently to the snake handler's presentation. Thirteen pairs of eyes were fixed, first on the speaker, then on the bulgy blue bag on the table. The great moment came, the bag was opened, and handler Sam Clark prodded almost seven feet of angry rattlesnake onto the table.
Swiftly coiling, the great snake waited. Suddenly there was one careless gesture, one hand too close to the tense snake, and the snake handler jumped back holding his hand.
The snake slithered to the floor and turned toward the scouts.
"Up on your chairs—stand up on your chairs!" the scoutmaster shouted. The scouts obeyed— fast!—but Sam Clark stepped directly in front of the snake. Pushing and shoving it with his foot, he kept turning it away from the scouts. It took the bitten Clark about ten minutes to bag the slippery snake again, and the boys were safe.
The scouts were safe, but Sam Clark was rushed to the emergency room at the hospital and then into intensive care.
Telling of it later, the scoutmaster said, "I think what Sam did was way beyond the call."
The diamondback rattlesnake is rated as "the most dangerous snake in North America.': The very sight of one is likely to cause hysterical cries and shouts of "Look out! Run! Somebody get a gun!" But Sam Clark, already badly bitten, faced the deadly snake again to save the boys. And he did save them, at a bitter cost to himself.
Isn't that just a little bit like our Lord? We were at the mercy of a deadlier "serpent" than the rattler. (The Bible speaks of the devil as "that old serpent.") The Lord Jesus came between us and him, and offered Himself in our place. He gave His life that we might live. We have only to accept His sacrifice for us and (like the thirteen grateful scouts) thank Him for what He has done for us.
"What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord." Psa. 116:12,13. That is all He asks of us!