Claire looked at the big, sturdy toolbox and shook her head. “What am I ever going to do with this thing?” Then she turned to the young man who was painting her house and asked, “Dan, do you know anyone who could use this big, old toolbox?”
“Sure,” he said, “I’ll take it. I could really use something like that. Why don’t you want it anymore?”
“Well, I’ll tell you a story about this box,” Claire answered. “Originally my husband used it for his tools, but when he got something better suited for his work, we used it to store our cat food in the garage.
“One day the children came out and found a mouse in the toolbox. They were delighted and visited the mouse quite regularly, sometimes with special treats of cheese. The mouse returned their kindness by having a litter of babies in the corner of the box. The children loved it!
“But then one day when I went out to feed the cat and see how the mice were coming along, I didn’t see any mice—just an old air hose coiled up in the bottom of the box. That’s strange, I thought as I fed the cat and closed the box.
“Later, I went out to the garage to check on the mice again, wondering how I could have missed them. When I opened the box, that ‘air hose’ was wiggling all around! It was actually a snake and had, no doubt, eaten all the mice! You can be sure that I lost no time in getting out of that garage!”
The Bible tells us about another snake that sometimes looks different than what he really is: “That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which [deceives] 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)). He doesn’t always look like something evil; he wants to deceive us by looking attractive. We read in 2 Corinthians 11:1414And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14), “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” That sounds pretty attractive, doesn’t it? But be on your guard! Don’t let that evil serpent deceive you into thinking he’s something he really isn’t. When you see that his attractions are really evil, follow Claire’s example and get out of there! The Bible gives us a good warning: “Go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and [go] 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)).
Claire ended her story by saying, “I don’t want that box anymore. Who knows, the snake may be raising a family in there next! And right now I don’t know where that snake is. It’s probably somewhere in the garage, and that makes me not want to go in there.”
Later that afternoon Dan and his fellow painter saw the snake sunning itself in front of the garage and got rid of it for good. That made Claire happy. And doesn’t it make you happy to know that although that evil serpent, Satan, brought death into this world by his deceiving Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Lord Jesus came into this world to conquer Satan and death. He won that victory when He died on Calvary’s cross. And now He offers you and me the gift of eternal life, the result of His victory at the cross.
ML-09/27/2015