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Romans 6:22 – But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (NIV)
The other day when I was tramping through the brush to untangle one of the horses' stake lines, I found myself heaving such a sigh of pleasure and relief. Why? Because we don't have any type of snake in the far north. It's just too cold for them to survive, for which I am truly thankful. For out of all God's creatures, the snake is the only one which I abhor.
Knowing that most snakes are not dangerous and for many gardeners and farmers they are even helpmates in regards to eating insects and mice, I have tried to overcome this total aversion by handling and picking them up, all to no avail. They still strike total abhorrence and fear within me, causing my heart to curse their very existence.
What I find the worst is that when I am in a region where snakes abide, I have a habit of stepping on them while I am out walking the fields and pathways. Strolling along minding my own business, I feel something under my foot, and looking down, I behold one of these despicable reptiles, pinned to the earth, writhing beneath my foot as my weight crushes it. Indeed, I have lost count of the number of times that this has happened, yet the horror that I feel when it does never lessens.
I am not the only one who curses and crushes snakes, however. In Genesis, we read a prophecy concerning Satan, who took the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden, and by deceiving Eve, unleashed the power of sin and evil into God's perfect world.
Genesis 3:14-15 – So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (NIV)
God cursed that snake, Satan, and let him know that one day, the offspring of a woman, would crush his head. That offspring would be Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, Who would defeat Satan by His death and resurrection. The serpent's head would be crushed, and mankind would be freed from the eternal consequence of sin's power once and for all.
Yes, the power of sin is dead, through the work of Christ on the cross. This does not mean, however, that sin does not still exist. What it does mean is that through faith and obedience in Christ, we have the power to choose to resist and overcome it: to lead lives of holiness. If that isn't something to heave a sigh of pleasure and relief over, I don't know what is.
Prayer: Father God, thank You so much that we do not need to live in fear of the power of sin. Thank You that through the strength of the Holy Spirit within us, we have everything that we need not only to resist any and all temptations which Satan may place in our path, but also to overcome them. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
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We have our share in SC, and I don’t like them either. Another good word.
Amen.
Blessings.
Very well thought out. Keep writing.
Blessings.
Good Morning
Thank You for the Daily Devotional’s I receive. They are wonderful.
Thank you Lynn for writing so many wonderful devotionals.
God bless you in your ministry to this website.
God bless you for your encouraging message this morning.
Your devotionals are always a great help to me.
Blessings.
Thanks, Lynne for an interesting devotional. It sparked many memories of life on the farm and the mixed “blessing” of snakes. I too have stories to tell about them.
Blessings.
Lynne, I share your abhorrence and fear of snakes, probably because of their association with Satan. However, the image portrayed in Genesis 3:15 is a great reminder that our victory has already been won at the cross. Praise God, sin no longer has power over us since we’ve already been set free in Christ!
Easter Blessings.
So true Lynne,
I am in total agreement. Sin can always be crushed and we have that power to do so.
It is our old nature that we constantly fight and need to overcome.
Thank you for bringing out that point.
To Him be the glory for our new nature in Christ.
Blessings on you and your ministry.
Thank you Lynne. I too do not particularly like a snake, and here on Manitoulin we have two poisonous ones: the Massissaugus Rattlesnake and the Cottonmouth Watersnake. I avoid those two, but the others don’t bother me. We have a resident Garter Snake under our cabin, and since it moved in, we have not had a mouse! As you noted, sometimes what we dislike can be good for us. We dislike work, but it gets things done. Blessings from
us to you. Happy Easter!
Good morning Lynne,
It sure is good getting the devotional back on the email list. I got through to it on the
PC web page but the email seems so much more personal having it come straight into my home.
Thanks for writing it. I have never had a snake near me. I don’t think there were any in Bermuda where I grew up, nor on the beach where I walk every sunny day.
God bless.
Hi Lynne,
I can’t stand snakes either – and when they were little my children used to catch them and proudly bring them home to show me!
I think we have plenty of snakes here in Canada, very poisonous ones, too, but we can’t see them or step on them. Snakes and serpents and scorpions in Scripture are, as I’m sure you know, symbolic of the demonic. I believe there are plenty of demons in Canada attacking many people, but thanks be to God, our Lord has crushed the greatest serpent’s head, as your reflection quotes. Thank you for that, and thank you for making me laugh.
Blessings.
What you say is true, however I feel that there is a fairly large “but” there somewhere. We seem to fall into certain missteps over and over again, and our dependence on God has specific ‘soft spots’ where the ‘flesh and the devil’ are able to break into our patterns of thinking and behaving. We are blessed to have the help of people like you Lynne (and we all have those people around us) who are lovingly committed to reminding God’s people that God is at hand 24/7 to be called upon for our comfort and assistance.
Thank you Lord for all of those people, the great crowd around us, who know you and love you, and love others as they love themselves, and are willing to be used by You Lord to inspire us to avail ourselves of all You have to offer. Amen.
This must be one of the repeated devotionals, but was worth reading again. Thanks for sharing it.
I totally agree. Beautiful prayer, Lynne.
Now that I have stopped shivering, after reading your (powerful) devotional, I’ll get on with my day. I dislike snakes too!
Lynne, thank you for this enlightening meditation. I share you abhorrence and my wife is even more fearful and can’t even watch TV is there is a chance a picture of might be seen. I enjoy your frequent additions to this wonderful meditation site.
I’m with you re snakes Lynne! The mention you make of Jesus triumphing over sin and death is of course always our truth as believers, but something we are especially remembering in the Easter season.
(NB)
Dear Lynne,
A beautiful devotional to bring out truths of good and evil. God is the victor and Jesus is the overcomer, we are the participants and beneficiaries.
Let us praise him.
Keep writing.
Dear Lynne,
Your explanation of the Genesis 3:15 passage is the clearest I have ever heard; thank you for enlightening us on this important subject. Recently, I have heard there are Christians who do not believe that Satan is a real being.