A group of men were on an expedition in the jungles of South America. As they were following a jungle trail, David, one of the men, spotted a frog. David thought he could use a little excitement and a break from the steady walking, so he decided to try to catch the frog. As he got ready to catch it, Pedro, who was behind David, pulled out a gun and shot the frog. David was taken by surprise! “Why did you do that, Pedro? I just wanted to have a little fun catching a frog.”
Pedro explained, “David, what you thought was a frog was really the head of a very poisonous snake called a Fer-de-lance.”
Pedro had seen what was about to happen and stepped in, just in time to save David’s life. The body of the snake was hidden under bushes and plants, and only the head could be seen. It was deceptive because it looked like a harmless frog rather than the dangerous snake it really was. If David had gotten close to catch it, thinking it was a harmless frog, he would have been bitten and poisoned with the snake’s venom and would have died very shortly after.
According to jungle knowledge, poisonous snakes are graded on a 1-step, 2-step and 3-step rating, meaning how few steps you could take away from the snake after you’ve been bitten before you fall dead. The Fer-de-lance was graded as a 2-step snake. This means that David was two steps away from death if Pedro had not seen the danger and stepped in to save his life.
Although this dangerous Fer-de-lance snake was deceptive by its looks, we have an even more dangerous deceiver today. Satan is the chief of all deceivers, causing people of any age to think that the attractions of this world are more important than taking time to think about where they will spend eternity. Satan doesn’t want you or anybody else to learn that the Lord Jesus loves you and gave His life to save you from an eternity in hell. Pedro easily killed David’s enemy with his gun, but our Lord Jesus went even farther. He knew the danger we were in from our sins and came into the world, right into Satan’s territory, to save us from his deadly bite. He let cruel men nail Him to a cross where He suffered and died, paying the price for our sins in His own body. His payment for sin can save you and me from an eternity in hell, if we will believe and accept Him as our very own Saviour.
“The Son of Man [Christ Jesus] is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:56). “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).
Will you let Him save you?
ML-09/07/2014