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PROGRAM D-7565
We’ve seen so many leaders in politics and religion who have been disgraced by immoral behavior and loss of integrity, and we wonder how they could have gotten into such a mess. Well, I think many times they just thought the rules didn’t apply to them. They considered themselves above the laws that the rest of us must live by.
Somehow power does that to people. But don’t be fooled. Nobody breaks God’s principles and gets by with it. If you see people who appear to be doing good while living in rebellion against God’s laws, remember you haven’t seen the end of the story yet. No one can live in opposition to God’s moral laws and his principles and escape the consequences.
The girl in the fairy tale was bitten by a rattlesnake because she didn’t run away as soon as she saw the snake, she listened to his deceptive lies, she disregarded the nature of rattlesnakes and thought this one would be different, and so she picked it up.
What kind of rattlesnakes have you encountered lately? Perhaps it’s a sexual relationship, or a matter of honesty. Maybe you think you can get involved in some occult stuff and not get burned. Maybe you’re into pornography or music that is not edifying. Have you been ignoring God’s Word and needed spiritual disciplines in your life? Those are some common everyday rattlesnakes that many of us confront.
Have you picked up any rattlesnakes lately? Think you can handle it without being bitten? Are you trying to rationalize away the dangers you’re facing and justify your behavior somehow? Well, the facts are you can’t get by with it. Maybe some of those rattlesnakes don’t bite as quickly as others, and you’re thinking that you’re getting by with it. Don’t be deceived; sooner or later the poison will enter your mind and body and you’ll know you’ve been bitten.
Perhaps that simple fairy tale will stick with you and help you remember that rattlesnakes never change their nature, no matter how good they talk or how attractive they look. As Christians in a world full of “rattlesnakes,” we can avoid them by staying on the straight and narrow road, looking for and taking the escape routes which are provided when we do encounter a temptation, and running far away at the first hint that we’re in rattlesnake country.
Our testimony for Jesus Christ is at stake; our ability to be used by God for eternal purposes is threatened. It’s not worth it, believe me, it’s not worth it. Stay away from the rattlesnakes.