Beware the copperheads!

     Bingley and I were enjoying a lovely spring walk on the greenway this morning with an impossibly blue sky overhead...fragrance of honeysuckle...shining field of buttercups...symphony of birds serenading us from the bright green canopy of trees.  We even passed the magnificent blue heron as he sat still and serene in the creek below.  And then there was the fluffy popcorn balls of white flowers that look like a giant beautiful bridal bouquet.

   
     Can you believe we get to see this astounding abundance of glory every single day...all for free?!  Oh my, thank You, Father! As Theodore Roosevelt once declared, "It is an incalculable added pleasure to any one's sum of happiness if her or she grows to know, even slightly and imperfectly, how to read and enjoy the wonder-book of nature."
     But as Mr. B and I rounded one corner, a kind runner shouted to us--"Watch out!  There's a big copperhead just on the right side of the path right after you cross the bridge!"  Good night--here I was in la la land--rejoicing in the beauty all around me, listening to my ipod, trying to keep Bingley from eating too many plants and other assorted items--and I was so distracted and lost in thought that a copperhead could have stood up on his tippy toes in the middle of the greenway and starting singing the national anthem and I might not have noticed.  Geez.  Bingley goes after anything.  I can't imagine what quick work a copperhead would have made of him...while I distractedly strolled along.
     I immediately thought of I Peter 5--"Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
     We have to be on guard, don't we?  It's so easy to slip and slide into sin...one little thought...then another little thought...then a tiny action...then another seemingly innocuous action...and another and another.  Each one seemingly minor, a mere trifle, really...until we find ourselves falling fast down that slippery slope of sin and deception.  That's how satan always works--persuading us it's no big deal...until we fall.  And then condemning us that we've failed and are past all hope.
     NO!  Be on your guard...for copperheads and for those little sinful attitudes and tendencies that can eventually morph into habits and mindsets and finally strangling addictions.  Stop them at the thought stage.  Hit them hard with the truth of God's Word.  As Dwight L. Moody put it: "The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible."  We have to constantly be listening to our Savior's voice of Truth so that we can be alert to the lies of satan.
     "Those who commune most with God know best how to serve Him.  A captain can lead his soldiers only if they stay within the sound of his voice.  Your frequent retreats into the secret places of God assure that you will hear Him when He speaks and receive your orders direct from Him."   (William Gurnall)
     Might we rejoice in the magnificence of this planet and of all of God's gifts to us...but in the midst of it all, be alert!  We must constantly listen for the Good Shepherd's voice so that we can follow Him along His paths of life.
      The blue herons and feathery popcorn balls and buttercups are all out there for our enjoyment...but we need to be on guard for the copperheads of life as well.  Jesus came to give us abundant life--might we listen, follow, and obey Him to find His peace and joy...and avoid those copperheads of sin.  To God be the glory.