Running from Danger

My wife hates snakes.  As far as she is concerned, God could have left them off the creation list and that would have been just fine.  I don’t like them either.  I’ve never really understood the attraction.  After all, it was a serpent that tempted Eve to sin!

We were in Northern California when our boys were ages three and five.  I had just gotten my business started, and my first client was located in Pleasanton, which is in the Livermore Valley.  We lived in a Residence Inn in Livermore, and met some great friends there that we continue to stay in contact with.  With no household responsibilities, we had the opportunity to see the country on the weekends.  We traveled to Yosemite, to Napa Valley, spent time in San Francisco, went to some ballgames at Candlestick Park, and just had a great time.

One of my favorite places to go was Del Valle Lake.  The water was clear and the scenery was beautiful.  We rented a small boat and cruised around the lake, and took the boys fishing.  Once, we were hiking along a trail that wound up from the lake to a dirt road, and there were tunnels all along the path that had been dug by some kind of critter.  I kept joking that a snake was going to come out of one of the holes, and my wife wasn’t the least bit amused.

We reached the dirt road and were walking along hand in hand with our two boys, when all of a sudden my wife screamed, “SNAKE!”  It was a big snake, stretched across the road warming itself in the sun, and I had almost stepped on it.  Without hesitation, and without even seeing the snake, our three-year old had reversed course and was trucking down the road as fast as his legs would take him.

The Bible gives us many warnings to flee from the dangers of sin.  We can avoid unnecessary suffering if we heed God’s warnings!

“The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

Proverbs 22:3 ESV