Louis always had a real interest in different kinds of animals, but his favorite pets were snakes. This might seem strange to many of you, that someone could really like snakes. It was his keen interest in snakes that almost cost Louis his life.
I’m sure that Louis knew exactly what he wanted when he smashed the display case glass at the zoo. In this display case there were two five-foot-long Gaboon vipers. Reaching through the broken glass, Louis quickly grabbed the vipers and stuffed them into a black plastic bag.
I’m not sure if Louis really knew how poisonous the Gaboon viper is, but he was soon to find out. It is one of the most poisonous species of snakes in the world. What a foolish thing Louis had done!
It was almost midnight when Louis climbed onto a city bus, still carrying the black plastic bag with his new “pets.” He sat down for the ride back to his home, carefully guarding the bag he had set down beside him. As he peeked into the bag, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. One of the snakes had bitten him! Blood started running down his arm and soaked through his shirt. Louis did not know what to do.
The Bible tells us, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:2323But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23). After the snake bit Louis his sin was quickly “found out.” Not only had he sinned when he broke the window and stole the snakes, he now was facing death. Louis was in very serious trouble and needed help, and fast!
The others on the bus soon realized that Louis needed help. The driver quickly stopped the bus and called the police.
Louis was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital. When the doctors at the hospital discovered what had bitten Louis, they immediately sent out an emergency call for antivenin to the Gaboon viper poison. They knew this was the only remedy that could save his life.
How thankful each of us should be that there is a remedy for sin. Even though each of us has been “bitten” by sin, for God says “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)), God has a remedy for those sins. His remedy is the blood that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, shed on the cross. “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). To be given the remedy for sin, all we have to do is ask for it and accept it. We need to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Saviour. Louis would not have the help of the antivenin if he refused to take it. You, too, cannot have the help of what the Lord Jesus has done for you unless you accept it for yourself.
For Louis an antivenin was found that would neutralize the viper’s poison. It was rushed to the hospital where Louis lay, close to death. It had to be given quickly to save his life. There was no time to waste!
Are you willing to accept the only remedy for your sins, right now? How foolish it would have been for the doctors to have waited for several hours to give Louis the antivenin after they had gotten it. Yet many boys and girls are doing just that—they are putting off accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. In 2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2) we read, “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
The antivenin that Louis received saved his life. It was exactly what he needed; nothing else would have worked. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only remedy for sin; there is no other cure, and nothing else will work.
Although Louis’s life was saved, he still had to be punished for breaking the display case and stealing the vipers. How thankful we who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour can be, because we know for sure that all our sins have been washed away and that we will never have to be punished for them. “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:1212For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12).
ML-08/21/1983