Today’s first reading from Numbers 21 tells us the story of God sending saraph serpents among the people of Israel, who had become terrible whiners. God then commands Moses to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. Whenever someone looked up at the serpent, they would be healed and live. In the Gospel reading from John 8, Jesus talks about the Son of Man being lifted up.”When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM.”
We know that Satan took the form of a serpent in the garden. In the story from Numbers, we can think of these serpents as representative of Satan. Satan's poison is sin. Our antidote for that poison is Jesus. There is one place where the analogy diverges, and it is an important distinction.
For the Israelites, they may not have had a choice about whether they were bitten by a serpent. But when it comes to us and Satan, we have a choice. We can choose to allow him room in our lives, or we can choose to keep him out and be faithful to God. So the question today is simply this: Are you allowing room for the serpent in your life today?
Father, when our lives are filled with You, there is no room for the serpent. May we keep him at bay by filling our lives with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There's still time to get copies of A Minute in the Church to give away at your parish this Easter. Order today at www.GusLloyd.com.
0 comments