“The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8
Poison ivy is the common name for several kinds of harmful vines, shrubs or groundcover plants. It grows plentifully east of the Rocky Mountains throughout the United States and southern Canada, as well as mountainous areas of Mexico up to a certain altitude. The plants are a problem to people only and don’t bother dogs, cats, horses and wild animals. However, the poison oil can brush off onto the fur of these animals and is passed on to anyone who pets them.
The strong poison in these plants is the oil that comes out through the leaves, stems and even the roots. Even in winter, a person rubbing against a bare branch may pick up the oil and in a few days have the painful, itching blisters that last several weeks. Even dead plants and their dead roots can still contain the poisonous oil. Also, a wind blowing across the leaves can carry tiny droplets of the oil to a person’s skin, as can smoke from burning plants. If the oil is not washed off with a strong soap, after several hours it penetrates the skin, and in a day or so the itching blisters begin to appear.
These plants are not always easy to see as they straggle along the ground or twine up tree trunks or telephone poles. But some form upright shrubs if there is nothing to climb on. In the southern states and on the Pacific Coast, these bushy forms are usually known as poison oak. Both kinds have leaves made up of three leaflets on a stem. The leaves are a pretty shiny green, turning to beautiful red and orange in the fall. People who enjoy collecting colored leaves in the fall sometimes pick poison ivy leaves and don’t realize their mistake until someone recognizes the leaves and tells them or the itchy rash breaks out. In late summer, clusters of yellowish-white, waxy-looking berries form on the main stems. These are also poisonous to humans but not to birds and other creatures that eat the berries.
These hazardous plants, with their pretty three-leaf clusters, remind us of what the Bible says. In addition to the poison of an unruly tongue mentioned in the opening verse, there are three other harmful things that Satan often uses to tempt us. These are “the lust of the flesh [using our bodies in a bad way], the lust of the eyes [looking at and wanting things not pleasing to the Lord], and the pride of life [thinking we are better than others and wanting to be admired]” (1 John 2:16).
How much better to say “NO” to Satan when tempted by any of these sinful things and ask the Lord’s help to do only what pleases Him.
ML-05/19/2013