Bible Reading: Psalm 27:1-3; Isaiah 41:10

“Rose, look what I found in the woods!” Levi approached his sister carrying a cage. Something was moving inside.

Rose shrieked. “Get that out of here!”

Levi laughed. “It’s only a garden snake,” he said. “It can’t hurt you.”

“Daddy!” Rose dashed behind her father, her eyes filled with fear. “Kill it, Daddy!”

“Don’t be afraid.” Dad put an arm around Rose. “What Levi says is true; garden snakes aren’t poisonous. We don’t kill something for no good reason.”

“Why do people hate snakes?” asked Levi.

“I guess because they can look scary, or they remind us of bad things,” replied Dad. “It started long ago when Satan, in the form of a snake, tempted Eve in the garden of Eden and got her and Adam to sin. These days we sometimes hear about snakes killing other animals, like chickens. And some snakes are poisonous. Their bites can cause illness or even death.”

“If they’d quit biting people, maybe we’d like them better,” said Rose.

“God gives most animals a built-in mechanism for protection from enemies,” Dad explained. “Porcupines have quills, skunks spray, and snakes have venom.”

“But most snakes aren’t poisonous, are they?” asked Levi.

“No,” Dad said. “Actually, they can be very helpful to people. Snakes eat mice and rats that carry germs. Hundreds of years ago, the Bubonic Plague—caused by infected fleas that lived on rats—killed a fourth of Europe’s population. If there had been more snakes, the epidemic might not have been nearly as bad. And today, scientists are learning how to use snake venom to make medicine!”

“See, Rose,” said Levi, “there are lots of good things about snakes.”

Dad nodded. “God created everything—even snakes—to be good. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered the world, it messed everything up, but God promises to make it right again one day. When Jesus returns and makes everything new, there will be no more pain, sickness, or death, and we’ll never be afraid of any creature ever again.”

Levi and his sister studied their slithering captive in the cage. “Why don’t we measure it,” said Levi.

Rose hesitated. “Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll get a tape measure. But I won’t hold its tail!”

–Janet E. Rhine