Since I am the mother of teenagers, you can imagine how my schedule consists of running one here, dropping the other there.
On one particular afternoon, I collected my keys to drive my son to lacrosse practice. Walking through the kitchen, I noticed something on the floor that appeared to be grass or a stick. As I bent down to pick it up, it moved. Grass and sticks do not move. It was then I realized I had a snake in my kitchen.
I am not a former girl scout or a nature girl of any kind. I did what any self respecting female would do, I screamed! My junior knight in shining armor, my 14 year-old son, ran into the room to see what had caused my panic. He immediately said he would get it with his lacrosse stick. His stick has holes in it and the snake can travel through holes. I sent him to grab a shovel out of the garage while I watched the snake.
With a racing heart, I managed to open the back door. After several attempts, he finally scooped the snake up and tossed him out the back door and then I slammed the door shut. When I looked out through the door, I noticed my dog was in the back yard. She had been in the kitchen and hadn’t bothered to help us at all. She’s a golden retriever; you’d have thought she would have tried to retrieve the snake.
When I got home, I was chatting with God and told Him I could have gone all day long without that happening. I could almost hear Him chuckle. God wastes nothing, including our time, so I began asking Him what I could learn from the situation.
How did the snake get inside? Well, I had been cooking on the grill and was going in and out of the house so I had left the backdoor cracked.
This got me to thinking: Is there any area in our lives that we have left cracked, where the enemy can get in? What about watching things on TV that are questionable or reading books that do not honor God? Have we been a party to gossip? Have we spoken harshly to someone or held on to bitterness?
What about my dog, the retriever? It is her job to protect the family, but she didn’t. She was literally laying down on the job. Do we expect others to cover our family in prayer and teach our children about Jesus? Do we think attending church or going to a Christian school or being involved in campus ministries like Fellowship of Christian Athletes gives our children all of the foundation they need? Are we laying down on the job?
I encourage you to take some time with the Lord and ask Him if there are any doors left cracked that need closing or any areas that you are laying down on the job. God wants the very best for us. In John 10:10 it says:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Jesus wants us to have life to the full, but we must do our part. Are we?
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