A Snake in my House

I woke up today and discovered a snake in my house. A snake. Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly a cobra or a python and if I told you the length I’m sure you wouldn’t be impressed but please don’t miss the point. I woke up and there was a snake in my house.

Last night I went to bed blissfully secure in my usual nighttime preparations. The windows were shut; the doors were locked. Yet, somehow, while I slept this black, slimy, intruder slithered in uninvited and unwelcome.

Barefoot and ignorant, I awoke and stumbled towards my morning bottled water. That’s when I saw him. I’m not sure who was more surprised, my nemesis or me. Either way, it was not a happy moment. I decided I wasn’t as thirsty as I thought, quickly fled the scene, and left the water untouched.

I then thought about Satan, the original snake, in the original garden. Barefoot and blissfully unaware, one day Eve bumped into Satan as he stood between her and the fountain of living water. It was not a happy moment.

Satan often sneaks into my life when I’m not looking. Jealous thoughts, petty impatience, stubborn insistence on my own way – these are the back doors he frequently uses. Suddenly, there he stands, blocking the way between me and the fountain of living water, and all too often, I’m the one who has let him in.

Unfortunately, I’ve grown accustomed to Satan’s attacks over the years and rarely see them as the unwelcome, slimy intruders that they are. But I should. They stand between me and the Savior I love.

Today, I discovered a snake in my house. I took a long-handled shovel and put him out. Pray that when Satan shows up later, I will have the wisdom to do the same. There’s nothing I want more than to drink deeply from the fountain that is my Christ.