Snakes in the Grass

Last night I had a dream that has stayed with me throughout the entire day. In this dream, I am walking through the grass in my front yard, in a place that I know quite well, secure and safe and just walking in the sunlight. But then, something hit my leg, and I fell, and as I looked down, a rattlesnake had struck at me and had actually tangled his fang in my blue jeans. I knew I had been bitten, so I carefully tried to move my leg to shake the snake loose while trying to avoid getting bitten again. As I dragged myself cautiously and carefully towards the house, the snake continued to come with me, striking me repeatedly until I started to succumb to it's venom. I remember thinking in my dream that I never knew the snake was there until he struck. In fact, I never heard him rattle until he had already bitten me.

As I thought about that dream all day, I was led to the apostle Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" I think it was significant that the snake in the grass was hidden right in my own front yard. You see, sin is like that. It crouches at our door and stalks us in our living rooms and in our bedrooms and in our workplaces. I think Christians do pretty good at avoiding known places of sin, but we can find ourselves easily tripped up by the sins laying in wait in our own front yard. We worry and worry about keeping ourselves free from the "big" sins, and we congratulate ourselves on the fact that we are not giving into these "big" sins, but then we find ourselves struck down by the small sins hiding in the grass of our lives.

Think about it like this. I doubt anyone reading this has ever been hurt by an elephant. I doubt anyone reading this has ever been bitten by a hippopotamous. But, everyone has been bitten by a gnat or by a mosquito. It's the small things that trip us up. It's those little sins that are laying hidden in the grass that threaten to strike at the very moment we think we are safe -- at the very moment we think we are immune from temptation and sin.

So, what can we do about the sins that are laying hidden in the grass of our lives? By keeping the grass cut low. By staying close to God through the Means of Grace we can cut our grass. The primary means of grace that we are familiar with include Bible study, prayer, participation in the Sacraments, participation in corporate worship, sharing with accountability partners and small groups. By constantly being aware that dangers can come into our own front yard and by not becoming lax with things of danger, we can keep our grass cut low so we can see and turn away from the snakes in the grass before they can strike out at us.

Be careful then, how you are living and how you are standing, because there is always danger in the grass to the unwary.