“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” Psalm 23:3
I hate snakes. Anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely hate snakes. There are five kinds of snakes that I hate: big ones; little ones; live ones; dead ones; and rubber ones. I hate snakes. I hate them all.
We have a little strip of property between my yard and the neighbor’s. It is a small path, about three-foot wide. Technically, it is my property. It is my responsibility to keep the little path mowed and cleaned up.
This past summer, I went out to mow with my supped-up, redneck weed-eater. I have a 5.5 horsepower weed-eater with motor cycle handle bars. It is so powerful, it will cut down small trees. Whenever I start the weed-eater, nearby dogs whimper and small children cry. The weed-eater has a massive motor. It is too heavy to carry like a normal weed-eater. To carry it, you must strap it across your back.
Just before I started mowing, I thought, “That looks snakey.” The path looked snakey. It had rained for several days. The weeds were about knee high. I couldn’t see the path, and I couldn’t see if there was a snake. So, I just assumed there was.
I was mowing along with the supped-up weed-eater. Smoke, weeds, and grass were flying everywhere. That’s when I looked up and I saw it. It was big. It was brown. It was ugly. It looked like a 20-foot anaconda. It was a large, python-looking snake.
Suddenly, I began to speak in an unknown tongue. I screamed and jumped backward. When I landed, I took off running faster than an Olympic runner in the 40-yard dash.
As I was running, the weed-eater that was strapped to me got lodged between my fence and the neighbor’s fence. The sudden stop jerked me backward. The force almost tore me in half. I fell on my backside in the tall grass.
In my mind, I believed the giant snake was coming to get me, but I couldn’t run. I was tangled up.
Slowly, I turned around. There it was. It was just as clear as it could be. It was big. It was long. It was brown...
It was a tree root. I had just about killed myself running from a tree root.
The best way to avoid being bitten by a snake is to walk on clear paths as much as possible and to avoid tall grass. The same is true when it comes to avoiding the snake, the devil. If you walk on a path that’s not clear, you’ll get bitten. If you compromise, bend the rules, or give in to sin, you’ll get bitten.
The point is, if you want to avoid getting bitten by the enemy of your soul, falling and succumbing to the poison of his venom, stay on the clear path.
Is there anything unclear in your path? Any compromise? Any sin?
Put it away. Stay clear of sin and walk on God’s path.
