Everywhere I Go: Learning to See JesusSample

ARE YOU SNAKE-PROOF? Do you know the number one enemy of the hunting dog? Snakes! A hunting dog will catch the scent of a snake and track it to its hiding place, only to be bitten and die. But it is possible to snake-proof a good hunting dog, and this is how it's done: Put the dog in an electric collarﾗone that can deliver a low-voltage shock. De-fang a rattlesnake and place it in a bush up-wind from the dog. Allow the dog to catch the snake's scent on the wind, and hear its rattle. At the moment the dog presses his nose into the bush and the de-fanged snake strikes, deliver a small shock to the dog. Repeat this a few times, until the dog passes up the snake in favor of other, more comfortable prey. What does this have to do with you and me? We've all been bitten by the original "snake" whose name is Satan. We have a sin nature from birth. But through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has de-fanged the snake. When we place our faith in Christ, the snake's venom is no longer fatalﾗand when we situate ourselves against the prevailing winds of culture, we can easily hear him, smell him, and pinpoint his location. Even so, Christians are still bitten by the snake. How? We turn our backsﾗnot our facesﾗto the wind and move with it, dulling our senses to sin and allowing the snake to surprise us when it strikes. The question for us is, do we want to be snake-proof? Do we want to escape the bite of sin and avoid its unpleasant shock? The answer may seem obvious, but unless there is a readiness in us to be free from sin's bite, we will stumble upon the same old snake over and over again.