We put it into a plastic sandwich baggie, and then it went into the freezer. We took the frozen deadly snake to Sunday school to show to the older young people. We didn’t show it to the little children, because we didn’t want to scare them.
The snake was really very beautiful, with deep red and bright yellow rings around its body. Because Florida has some of these poisonous snakes, the children in Florida learn a little saying about the different colorful snakes. Some that have other pretty colors are not poisonous, and this helps them know the difference:
Red on black won’t hurt Jack,
But red on yellow—dangerous fellow!
We looked up on the computer about this snake we had killed and discovered it was a deadly Eastern Coral Snake. Its venom or poison was so strong it could kill a person in 12 hours! It had slithered into our yard, unwanted, so we killed it with a shovel before it could harm us.
This dangerous snake reminded us of another snake, or serpent, one that we read about in the Bible. God had created a lovely garden, and it had wonderful fruit trees. He had also created the very first man and woman, Adam and Eve. The three were close friends, enjoying the beautiful garden together.
God had told Adam he could eat and enjoy all the fruit from the trees in the garden, except for one tree, and He told Adam which one it was. But God’s enemy, Satan, saw Adam and Eve’s happiness and wanted to ruin everything. He entered into a snake’s body and talked to Eve, tricking her into eating the fruit from that tree God had told them not to eat. She also gave some to Adam, and he disobeyed God too and ate some of the forbidden fruit. Their disobeying God was sin.
God had warned Adam that their punishment would be death, if they disobeyed. And we still have that warning in the Bible today: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). So, after many years they died, and so has every person that has ever lived.
But what happens to people after they die? The rest of that Bible verse says, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus, God’s Son, when He was living on earth, paid the punishment on Calvary’s cross for the sins of every sinner who will believe and accept Him as their very own Saviour. His precious blood was shed to wash all our dirty sins away and make us ready for heaven. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
Now God can offer us the free gift of eternal life. Eternal life means we will live happily forever with the Lord Jesus in heaven after we leave this world. Have you accepted this wonderful gift from the Lord Jesus and thanked Him for dying for you? If not, you can do that right now. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:1515Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)).
For those who do not accept Jesus as their Saviour and have their sins washed away, sadly they will be sent into everlasting punishment along with Satan and his angels. “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)).
ML-04/17/2016