Grass Snake and Boa~Constrictors

I called my mother a couple of days ago. I could INSTANTLY tell that something was amiss. We talk several times a day and I could just tell that things were a bit different. I quickly asked her what she was doing. Then she sighed and told me that I would never believe it. I convinced her I was an easy convert and would believe her.

She was in her kitchen at the sink and loading the dishwasher. She turned around and to the corner of her left eye she saw something moving very quickly. Initially she did not know what it was but as she turned her focus that direction, she soon realized that a snake was on her kitchen floor. A real, live, squiggling snake. This is when I started gagging and freaking out on the phone. GROSS!

She lamented about how it was discovered and she was so glad that her cat was in the other room, because he would have been playing with it. She was also wishing that my daddy had been there to handle this little episode for her but he was at the office. She KNEW the snake could not stay and KNEW she was all she had. Within eyesight was some canned food and to her immediate reach was a step stool. Her only weapons. She quickly decided to throw the step stool on the creature and began to stand on the stool stomping him over and over until she was sure of his demise. Ever so sure he was a gonner, she then went to get the shovel...the official snake killing weapon and cut his head off and carried him outdoors.

I shivered and shook the entire time she told of this story. Partly because it happened to her and partly because I could not imagine this happening in my kitchen. I can not imagine how or even IF I would be able to handle that. With each detail of her story it became more and more apparent why she didn't seem herself when I called.

My parents live out in the country. As anyone that lives in the country knows, keeping your doors closed is a must. There are too many little varmints that can welcome themselves to your home if the door is even left cracked. They have lived in that house for 30 years and I always remember her hardly giving you the chance to walk through the door before she was telling you to shut it. She still is constantly on my daddy about keeping the door closed.

Isn't sin just like a snake. Sin looks for every opportunity to enter our lives...always looking for a cracked door or a door that doesn't shut quickly enough. No matter how many years we have made a practice of protecting our lives and hearts from a particular sin, it never gives up and if we ever delay closing that door it is quick to enter in. Sin also slips and slithers up behind us and we are often unaware of what it is at first glance until we focus on what has entered.

Do we always have an army of Christian friends at our side when sin comes in? Absolutely not, though it would be nice. As mother was by herself, sin usually attacks us in the same way...alone and quietly. But do not be misled, as I recognized a difference in my mother's voice those precious Christian friends of ours will also recognize a difference. Though they may not know at first what you are facing they will soon know the full story. Another thought is to protect yourself in the company you keep. Just as her cat would have played with that snake, particular friends may find your sin very appealing and wish to play with it as well. Our sin does truly effect others.

I think mother acted just as dramatic as any sane lady would in that same situation. She knew what she had to do and she did it with force. She threw that stool on the snake and stomped him to death, cut off his head, and carried him out of her kitchen. Likewise we should combat sin that very same way. Realize what we are dealing with, throw what we have available (the blood of Jesus Christ)onto it, cut its ugly head off and get it out of our lives. Now mother didn't just throw this dead thing off the back porch, she took him out to the pasture and threw him over the fence.

Mother now had an issue in her kitchen. She had killed a snake and it did leave a little mess. How in the world was she going to ever function in that kitchen again? Would she EVER be able to go bare foot? Would her grandchildren EVER be able to play on that floor? All she could see was the image of that snake and knew that the little blood spilled on the floor had to be tended to. So she disinfected and bleached that area like it had never been done before. There was not a trace of that snake on that floor. It wasn't a fun clean up. But it had to be done.

I am not sure we are as diligent in removing our sins. Do we just run them out and hope they don't return? Or do we conquer them in the name of Jesus and then take as far far away from our lives? It is true, there may be a "sin residue" left even after the sin has left, but Jesus Christ can and will clean that up. Though there might always be a mental or in some cases physical reminder of how that sin effected you, you will have freedom to overcome.

In closing, I have to confess as my mother did at the end of our conversation, this snake was not a BIG snake. He was a small snake....yet still a snake. And you know what, in killing that small snake he will never be able to become a large snake. So size doesn't matter in sin. In actuality a "small" sin may be more dangerous as they are harder to recognize and see. But those small sins will grow into large sins and can potentially reproduce!

So is your sin a grass snake or a boa~constrictor? Either one....they gotta go!