Change

I saw a snake today.  I took my Bible study outside and sat near the river that goes by my house, and as I was sitting there, just staring at the water, a small green snake slithered by me.  I watched, fascinated, as it slowly moved across the sidewalk, its slimy green body contracting and expanding to propel itself forward.

I thought back to the days of Adam and Eve.  Many scholars believe that the curse God placed upon the serpent in Genesis 3, indicated that the serpent used to walk upright, on actual legs.  And I was all of a sudden struck by the magnitude that sin has in our lives.  Because of his folly, not only was the snake's life forever changed, but so were the lives of all of his descendents after him.  Sin does not only cause a minor inconvenience in our lives; it is a cancer, eating us alive, changing the very fiber of who we are.

But sin is not the only thing that changes us.  Can you remember back to the time when you did not have Jesus in your life?  Do you notice a difference now?  It is true that sin will change and destroy you; but Jesus will change and save you.  He says that He is the only way to the Father.  Everything else is simply fool's gold.  But one way or another, you are going to be changed.  So here's my question to you: will it be for better or for worse?

Genesis 3:14-15

¹⁴ So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

   “Cursed are you above all livestock
   and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
   and you will eat dust
   all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
   between you and the woman,
   and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
   and you will strike his heel.”