A SNAKE FOR A PET

A SOFT LIGHT was shining down onto the stage as he walked into the centre of the circle, the orchestra began to play soft, haunting music. Every eye of the vast audience was upon him. Waiting to see what new act the great animal trainer was going to perform this evening. The music continued to play as all the lights were dimmed and the people seemed to hold their breaths as they watched. Slowly, from behind the curtain, they saw it slithering out onto the stage. A huge boa constrictor was making its way around his chair. It was entwining the chair, placing its huge coils around his body. Its small beady eyes looked down into his face as the music suddenly stopped and the spotlight lit up the face of the trainer with his pet raising its ugly head above his own. Then, as the music began playing again, the huge reptile slowly slithered away to its cage and the crowd burst into loud clapping and cheering. The trainer bowed and left the stage – his pet had to be cared for. He had found it as a little baby snake in the forest and had cared for it and taught it from babyhood. It was his slave. Now it had grown to large proportions, but always it respected him for he was the master. One night as the crowds watched breathlessly the enacting of this drama, they saw the huge constrictor come out onto the stage with the music playing softly. They watched the ugly reptile gently place its coils around its trainer; they cheered as the light shone out and the terrible head looked down into his face. Then silence suddenly fell. His face was white and covered with perspiration. A terrible scream sounded out over the audience as those grim coils tightened around his body, as the slave became the master and the lifeless trainer lay beyond all help. Satan is referred to in the Book of revelation in the Bible as “that old serpent, the devil”. He places his coils of sin around people who mistake it for a pet! “Afraid of sin? No way! I can quit with it any time I like. I am the master of my life,” they say. Christ is the only One who can deliver us from the bondage of sinful lifestyles and habits, and give us eternal life. Accept Him today as your Lord and personal Saviour. Do not be deceived by sin – it’s not a pet. The Bible also says in James 1:15, “When sin is finished, it brings death” (eternal death).