July, 4, 2024 The Setting, the Serpent, and the Savior!!!
Since today is a holiday in the United States, albeit a paradoxical one for those of us who are the descendants of slaves, I hope you can enjoy a relaxing and stress-free day. I have chosen to revise and share one of my favorite Thursday Focus messages that God inspired me to write a few years ago. The news each day seems more and more distressing. We may be anxious about what is going to happen in November…
“But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head” Ps. 3:3 NKJV).
The Setting, the Serpent, and the Savior!!!
The Setting!
It was early, in the pre-dawn hour, and the sun had not yet expelled the lingering nighttime gloominess on that late August morning. I was sixteen; my brother, Griffin was beginning college at Elizabeth City State. My dad and I were taking sticks of tobacco down from where they had been hung high in the barn to be ‘cured’ by four kerosene-fueled heaters situated on the dirt floor below. In the darkness, I climbed to about the second or third tier of the wooden racks that held the sticks of tobacco throughout the upper level of the barn, some eight or more tiers high. My task was to take them, two sticks pressed together at a time, and pass them down to my dad who stacked them on a large truck bed outside.
The Serpent!!
While waiting for Dad to come back into the barn from the truck, I sat on a tier plank with my legs swinging in the air and patiently held two sticks of tobacco together in the tenebrous gloom. Unbeknownst to me, a large venomous, olive-brown cottonmouth moccasin had slithered into the barn, made its way up into the racks and was now hiding quietly between the bundles of tobacco snuggly tied to the sticks I was holding in my hands!
My father entered the barn and took the sticks of tobacco from my hand. As he was about to lay them on the truck bed, his hand grasped the cool, smooth body of the cottonmouth! Dad threw the sticks and the snake from the truck quickly! I heard the commotion but did not know what had happened. In a calm voice, my father summoned me. “Alton, you’d better come on down from there.” When I was safely down, he told me about the moccasin. Now we saw snakes frequently on the farm, most of which were non-poisonous, black rat snakes, but the cottonmouth was one of the deadliest snakes in the southeast!
If that venomous enemy had sunk its fangs into me, lethal poison would have quickly entered my veins and I, quite likely, would not be here today. But God was, and yet is, my shield, a protective covering for me! He protects me from dangers seen and unseen! I didn’t see the snake, but God did, and He, my Savior, shielded me!
The Savior!!!
The serpent lurks in the shadows of darkness, but we have a Savior who is the light of the world! Even when we face disappointments and feel at a loss, He is still sovereign; He is concerned about us, and He knows exactly what He is doing. He is my glory. He has given me victory over my enemies so many times! As David said in Psalm 25, “To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” As a result, He lifts my head and covers me from shame. My enemies may flourish for a moment (Ps. 37). They may even stage a comeback and look like winners, but they will soon be cut off! The sun eventually chases away the stubborn, lingering darkness.
We have a Savior who has already defeated the serpent! With Jesus as our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our heads, we can live and enjoy life courageously without fear. Regardless of your current setting and how ominous the serpent, your enemy looks, he will ultimately be thrown down by the Savior!
Focus Quote: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it” (John 1:5 NLT)
Reminders:
Please continue to join us at 5:14 p.m. each day as we pause to pray.