DOING WHAT MAKES SENSE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first.

Ecclesiastes 10:11 (GNT)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Snake charmers have been around since ancient times. Certainly they existed during the times the Bible was written because we can find references to them in scriptures.

One such reference is at the heart of today’s verse from Ecclesiastes, Chapter 10:

Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first. (v 11)

Let’s say that you are a person who is skilled in snake charming. Although the snakes you work with are poisonous and can strike at you to bite in a moment’s notice, you need not fear it because you know you can render them harmless through your charming skills. Still, one day you choose to try and handle the snake without first charming it and predictably, the snake strikes and bites you. Within moments, the venom starts to course through your veins and shortly thereafter, you die.

What you did made no sense at all. You had the ability to render the snake risk-free and yet you chose to not do it, opting instead to place yourself at risk of death, a risk that played out to fruition.

Go back to the Garden of Eden and you’ll remember that Adam and Eve weren’t exactly good at snake charming. Of course, they existed before anyone knew of snake charming but the snake they were dealing with definitely was skilled in charming them. You may remember these words that were exchanged, words that led to the great fall of mankind:

Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

“We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,” the woman answered, “except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.”

The snake replied, “That's not true; you will not die. God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.”

The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees.

But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked.”

“Who told you that you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”

The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

The Lord God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?”

She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it.”

Genesis 3:1-13

Adam and Eve knew they weren’t to eat the fruit of the tree. They knew because God had told them not to. That should have been all that needed said. God said don’t eat and so they should not have eaten. That’s what would have made the most sense.

But that’s not what happened, is it? The man and woman believed a snake more than they believed God, a snake who did nothing more than appeal to fulfilling their own desires more than obeying God’s will. As a result, sin entered into God’s perfect creation and afflicted his people from then until present times.

It all could have been so much different if Adam and Eve would have exercised sensibility and remained obedient to God.

Fast forward to today and look at one more scenario.

For everyone knows that there is a day when they will die, a day when life will cease to exist anymore. They also hear about a way to avoid the sting of death and remove any victory it may have over a person. They know that if they would just place their faith and trust in a man named Jesus Christ, they would find eternal salvation, saved from death and able to live forever. And yet, they choose to wait because they enjoy the ways of the world too much to leave them behind. They decide to put off their decision until later and go on living for the ways of the world. Then something tragic happens and they suddenly die. They refused to receive freely what God offered to them and now they are gone forever with no chance to live anymore. And don’t think blaming the snake that Satan is or anyone else for that matter will change the circumstances.

This person delaying their commitment to Jesus didn’t make a whole lot of sense, did it? I mean, what good is it to know you could achieve salvation if you choose to put off receiving it? For in the end, you become no better off than the snake charmer who decided to put off charming the snake before he tried to handle it.

Friends, there is a real urgency to bringing the Gospel to others because so many people today are failing to do what makes sense as they put off deciding to receive the salvation God offers them freely through Christ Jesus. The harvest fields are full and we need to be out reaping and doing it now.

For tomorrow is going to be too late for somebody.   

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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