It’s that time of year again. The sun’s warm rays are hitting the front side of the house, making it feel 60 degrees on a 40 degree day. The sidewalk, steps, and bushes warm up toasty and, before you know it, out come the snakes. They’ll be lying on the sidewalk, or ever worse, throughout the top of the bare barberry bushes. Quite often it takes you by surprise when you pass a bush and they start to slither.
Sheree hates snakes. They can cause paralyzing fear in her when they stare her in the face and project their forked tongues at her. She doesn’t believe they belong in this world or the next. I just don’t believe they belong in the front of the house. At least we both agree on this.
My job, as provider and protector of my Queen and castle, is to patrol the front of our house on a regular basis. The snakes are gathered up in a five gallon bucket and the lid is snapped on. They are taken by car, many miles away and dropped off near 1851 Scotch Ridge Rd. Once the snakes are gone, Sheree feels much better about entering the house. “Ahhh, there’s no place like home.”
In another way, “It’s that time of year again.” The Son’s rays of grace and love seem stronger and more focused as we approach Resurrection Sunday. Things are warming up in the church year as we get ready to enter God’s house and celebrate Easter. I am reminded, though, that this is the time of Lent in the church year. It’s a time to take a good look at ourselves and see if there are any snakes (sins) around that need to be dealt with. It is a mistake to keep the snakes around.
“If I had cherished sin in my heart,
The Lord would not have listened,” Psalm 66:18
Confessing our sin before God is like removing the snakes, and we are able to enter into God’s throne room with prayer. I have found that as I ask God to reveal the snakes in my heart, and then ask Him to take them away, He does! By the time Sunday rolls around, I find it so much easier to enter God’s house on earth and feel “Ahhh, there’s no place like home!”
March 23, 2011
