“Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?” Job 41:5
“It” was estimated to be around 9’ long! And while I’m NOT an expert on all things alligator, I’ve seen enough to make as good an estimate as anyone. But seeing and sizing the gator by the pond was NOT what shocked me. My eye was caught by the 2 ladies inching closer to it… cameras in hand! Even though I was about 3 football fields away and moving 45 mph…the image was fused into my head!
Alligators are fascinating creatures, and living in Florida guarantees you will see one from time to time. But like bears in wooded country, there is little to worry about. They stay in their habitat and I stay in mine. If we happen to cross, I know the basic rules to avoid engagement! Those ladies were obviously tourists and either didn’t KNOW the rules… or didn’t care. Cuz they were breakin’ ‘em!
Alligators can grow to 13 feet, weigh up to 800 pounds, and have about 80 teeth zippered in their head. They can easily kill any blood carrying object… and DO! They are carnivores! Alligators can leap up to 5 feet, run up to 35 miles per hour AND climb fences, or trees with low branches. As I saw it, if that gator decided he was annoyed or hungry, those ladies didn’t have a PRAYER. And they were pushing their luck! But yesterday, I did the same thing myself… at LEAST a dozen times!
I used to tell my girls growing up to “beware of men, because men are pigs!” They had a hard time believing it because they’d reply, “well you’re a man daddy!” At the time they really didn’t quite understand when I huffed back, “EXACTLY!” I don’t ENJOY being like a pig… but I don’t use the simile as an excuse either. Popeye, the cartoon character, may be allowed to say, “I Yam what I YAM!” But being on Jesus’ team, that excuse can’t even be used as BAIT for an escape route!
I have to keep reminding myself that sin is like a very large, hungry alligator. Just lying there in the open doing nothing may make it SEEM friendly. But getting closer to see if I can play without getting bitten is REALLY stupid! Having been bitten SO many times, I’m embarrassed to say that I can STILL fall for it… because I am pig-flesh by nature! Pig-flesh is EXACTLY what sin feeds on!
Job 41 talks about the Leviathan. I’ve heard arguments from people who like to define what that creature REALLY is. But like an alligator, I prefer to leave it alone and see it as the perfect analogy for sin. Sin is mean, nasty, unforgiving and always a murderer. Sin is so deceptive that it ALWAYS comes to me pretty, elegant, inviting and sweet. Why just this morning, I had to do what I did yesterday when I saw those ladies by the pond! I pressed on the gas and just kept fleeing!
How do YOU handle sin!
