(Revelation 2:20 -- ESV)
--------------
A Texan explained it this way:
Here in west Texas, I have rattlesnakes on my place, living among us. I have killed a rattlesnake on the front porch. I have killed a rattlesnake on the back porch. I have killed rattlesnakes in the barn, in the shop and on the driveway. In fact, I kill every rattlesnake I encounter. I kill rattlesnakes because I know a rattlesnake will bite me and inject poison into me. I don't stop to wonder WHY a rattlesnake will bite me; I know it WILL bite me because it's a rattlesnake and that's what rattlesnakes do. I don't try to reason with a rattlesnake or have a "meaningful dialogue" with it. I just kill it. I don't "try to get to know the rattlesnake better" so I can find a way to live with the rattlesnakes and convince them not to bite me.
I just
kill them! I don't quiz a rattlesnake to see if I can find out where the
other snakes are, because (a) it won't tell me and (b) I already know they
live on my place. So, I just kill the rattlesnake and move on to the next one. I don't look for ways I might be able to change the rattlesnake to a non-poisonous rat snake. I just kill it. Oh, and on occasion, I accidentally kill a rat snake because I thought it was a rattlesnake at the time. Also, I know for every rattlesnake I kill, two more are lurking out there in the brush. In my lifetime I will never be able to rid my place of rattlesnakes. Do I fear them? Not really. Do I respect what they can do to me and my family? Yes! And because of that respect, I give them the fair justice they deserve, I kill them.
---------------------------------------------------------
Donald Grey Barnhouse (March 25, 1895 – November 05, 1960), a famous biblical scholar and former pastor of the historic 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, once preached a sermon entitled: “Men Whom God struck dead.” The subjects of his sermon were Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:2), Uzzah (2 Samuel 6:7), Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:5, 10).
No comments:
Post a Comment