Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Sneak (05/12/16)
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TITLE: Sneaker the Snake | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Bonney
05/16/16 -
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I smile as the miles float by, anticipating the exuberant reunion with the youngsters—aged 2-15—upon our arrival. The love we share is as natural to me as the air I breathe, and I like nothing more than getting down on the floor (a LITTLE more gracefully than the awkward arising again) to play with the youngest ones. . .
“Grammie! Grampie!” squeals surrounding us like animals in a circus parade.
Before long, our eldest grandson, who is in the autism spectrum, invites us to his room to see the newest member of their household. We had already met Speedy Spider, Harry Hamster, Freddy Frog and Goldie, the tiniest goldfish I have ever seen. So when Jonathan announces we will be introduced to Sneaker the Snake, I am somewhat alarmed. After all, we sleep on air beds close to the floor and even if a snake cage was locked, a “hidden” key is no longer out of Jonathan’s tall reach, already taller than the rest of us.
“What can his mother be thinking,” I whisper into Grampie’s good ear as we slowly climb up the stairs.
My heart beats even faster than the usual exertion from ascending the staircase. Will the snake be caged at all? My imagination wanders, like it does more and more these days, conjuring up all kinds of scenarios, each one scarier than the previous one. My aversion to snakes in general is nothing personal to whatever one lingers behind Jonathan’s closed bedroom door. It has more to do with my history with the Great Deceiver, the wiliest sneaker of all time, out to implement his diabolical plan to convince people that they can live independently and without God.
Satan, the master wolf in sheep’s clothing, is always lurking around the vulnerable corners of my own Christian walk. I resent his beguiling methods to trump God’s truth and trick me into doubting His goodness. I just get victory over one bad habit, and turn around to see his rearing ugly head again, tempting me into pride or selfishness. The other day, he was lurking in the kitchen corner while I was drooling over the chocolates that would send my diabetes into shock mode. I’m not his only victim. He skulks around my friends, too, hiding his true agendas under the guise of cunning suggestions into their psyches, like
“Just once won’t hurt,” or “God wants you to be happy, doesn’t He?” or “It’s just a little white lie,” or “This choice will only affect you,” and “You’re beyond help now, so committing one more sin won’t matter.”
Oh, he doesn’t want to devour us whole or squeeze us to death like physical snakes—he wants us to live so he can furtively whisper lies into our unsuspecting ears. He is without conscience, shifty, and God’s enemy. His venomous tongue flicks out the poison of devious lies veiled cunningly with promises that tickle our worldly hearts until we no longer hear the tell-tale rattle or the slithering swipe across the ground. So, I arm myself daily to deflect the devil’s attacks.*
“Grammie? Grammie?” Jonathan’s excited voice penetrating my thoughts, “I would like to introduce you to Sneaker Snake—Ta-Da!”, holding out the wooden-hinged coiled snake for me to pet, “look, his tail even rattles!”
“Well, hello, Sneaker Snake, glad to make your acquaintance,” so relieved I can hardly swallow a huge sigh before commenting.
Gone are the fears I had fueled in my mind about a live slinker creeping across my pajama-clad legs in the night, although I wouldn’t put it past one of the kiddos to hide Sneaker Snake under my pillow.
“May I ever be aware of Satan’s deceitful tactics and be on guard for the unseen creepy crawler hiding in the grass of my weakest parts,” I pray that night before un-nimbly climbing onto the air bed.
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*“ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, . . . with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. . .take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Genesis 3:1-13New International Version (NIV)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
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