Me Against The Snake

Me against the Snake

I recently did something I’ve never done before and hope to never do again. I killed a snake. By myself. With a garden hoe. The snake was a complete mess by the time it was over, and frankly, so was I. This particular snake had invaded my sister’s backyard and was discovered by her fearless miniature dachshund, who mistook it for a chew toy.

I hate snakes. And I hate killing anything. Even a bug. But there was no one else to do the deed, so I charged in and tried to separate dog and snake with my foot. I thought I had, but the dog shot around me, grabbed the snake in his mouth, and began to shake it from side to side. I threw my car keys at the dog, and startled, he dropped his prey.

By then my sister had come outside. The snake seemed a little stunned and wasn’t moving . . . much. I grabbed the dog, and my sister grabbed a garden hoe. “We’ve got to kill it,” she said.

“Couldn’t we just go inside and let it die on its own?” I asked. When I saw she wasn’t giving in until Mr. Snake was dead, I handed her the dachshund, took the hoe, and went after the invader. When I’d finally prevailed, my sister and I went inside, and I collapsed in a chair.

Killing the snake reminded me that God has done battle with Satan and bruised him on the head—and that it took a great, messy, and terrible sacrifice to do away with my own sin. I didn’t have to fight to win forgiveness. Jesus has already secured that, and it is mine. But I do have to fight for the turf he’s already won. You see, Satan is a cunning snake. He won’t just crawl away and die.

Since I killed the snake, I’ve been less able to take my own sin lightly. And I’ve fallen even more in love with my sin killer: the beautiful one who went to war on my behalf—and won.

If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:10-11, ESV