The poisonous snakebite of sin
Recently, the news has carried stories about how that snakes formerly kept as pets have been released and found new habitat. The Everglades is overrun with such snakes. In an effort to prevent the problem from escalating, the authorities are removing snakes from those who are not licensed to have them.
As ludicrous as this seems, there are people who keep rattlesnakes as pets. I know people who keep snakes. I just don’t get it at all (I jump when I watch snakes on TV), but to keep a venomous snake with venom glands is just asking for trouble. One man kept a 6 foot rattlesnake in a cage for a pet. He released it in his living room one day just to tease his wife. She ran screaming from the room, and the man quickly took a stick and placed it behind the reptile’s head, holding it firmly to the floor so he could recapture the snake. The irritated snake writhed and the man pushed the stick down more firmly to maintain control. Suddenly the stick snapped, and the rattler struck the man on the hand. Medical treatment saved his life, but his finger had to be amputated.
I think we can all agree that man was an idiot who got what he justly deserved. Who would be so foolish to toy with something so deadly? How many of us are toying with sin in the same fashion thinking we have control and are safe from the poisonous strike?
From a sermon by Tommy Burrus, It’ll Come Back to Bite You, 10/11/2009