28 Jun, 2006
Watch Out For Snakes
IMMOKALEE, Fla. - Muffy measured in at 22 feet, 1/4 inch long
- enough to take the title of largest Burmese python on display in
America away from the Bronx Zoo's Lulu. The New York snake had been
advertised as being 19 feet, 6 inches.
But Muffy wasn't ready for her 15 minutes. She fumed, spewing from her nostrils and opening her jaws wide enough to swallow a poodle as she was held down and measured six inches at a time, the News-Press reported Monday.
Muffy's keepers, Bob Cowlishaw, owner of Everglades Day Safari and Capt. Bob's Excellent Adventure, and Ski Oleski, owner of Lake Trafford Marina, bought the snake five weeks ago from Miami herpetologist Tom Crutchfield.
Cowlishaw says she's young to be that big, and still growing at a foot or two a year.
He says he didn't measure Muffy for bragging rights, but instead to call attention to the problem of pet pythons being released into the wild.
"A person goes to a pet shop and buys a baby python. It's cute. You feed it mice. Pretty soon, you feed it rats. It's not long before this creature is too big for the average person. And it's dangerous," he said.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. (ESV)
WHO WERE THE "SNAKES" THAT PAUL WAS WRITING ABOUT IN TODAY'S SCRIPTURE?
Paul was writing this letter to the early church in Corinth. He was warning them to look out for false teachers. Just like Eve was deceived by the serpent (Satan), believers were being led away from the true Christ by "religious" people who were preaching ideas that were not based on the Truth of God's Word as revealed through the power of God's Holy Spirit.
Satan is the master of deception. Not much has changed in the last 2000 years. Today, smooth-talking, smart-sounding, spiritual-like teachers and preachers are putting out messages that people like to hear, but they are based on feel-good, politically-correct philosophy rather than the inspired, Holy Word of God.
Part of God's Story is that He gave us His Word and His Son Jesus. And that's the Truth!
HOW DOES THIS TRUTH CONNECT TO YOU AND HOW CAN YOU APPLY IT?
Be careful where you look for spiritual input. There are lots of celebs, events and even churches that are "big" in the news. They can sound pretty good at first, but they are just another form of "spirituality". Religious? Yes. Truth? No, because they are not based on Jesus Christ and the authority of God's Holy Word.
Study God's Word every day.
Talk to God about it through prayer - Thank God for His inspired, authoritative, Holy Word. Ask His Holy Spirit to help you learn the Truth and apply it every day in your life. Ask His Spirit to help you recognize what is true and what is false. Ask His Spirit to help you keep your daily focus on the Christ of Scripture rather than on cultural ideas of who Jesus is and who He isn't.
Now, ask Jesus to show you how to connect the truth of God's Story today and My Story to Their Story.
It starts with prayer. Ask Jesus to give you a heart of compassion and listening ears as you interact with others. Ask them about their spiritual interests. If they seem open to talking about this topic, you could ask them if they think it's possible to really know what is true spiritually? Listen carefully. Be careful not to jump on them with your perspective, but trust Jesus to nudge you if you should share more about your story and God's Story.
If you have a relationship with someone who is really interested in the Bible, you could show them today's story about the snake and Paul's writing. The bottom line is - stay close to Jesus and He will show you how to connect to Their Story.
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