A young man was out on a quest one fall day trying to decide what task he could undertake to prove his manhood. He came upon a tall mountain, topped with the first snow of the year. "This will be my test", thinks the young man to himself. as he started to climb.
The climb was hard and long but the young man finally completed his task. Then, as he rested on top of the mountain, he heard a soft voice... "Help me!" it said. The young man looked for the voice, and there he found a rattlesnake dying in the snow.
The snake pleaded with the young man to save him from the cold. But the young man said, "No, mister snake. For if I pick you up, you'll bite me and I'll be the one that dies". "No, No!", said the snake. "I wouldn't harm the one who saves me. For if I do, then surely I will die in this cold."
The young man gave this some thought and decided to help the snake. So, he picked up the snake put him in his shirt and started his long climb down the mountain.
When they reached the valley below, the young man removed the snake from his shirt and gently placed it on the ground. Then, the snakestruck coiled up and bit the man. "Why did you bite me?" pleaded the man? "I saved you. You promised me you wouldn't hurt me!"
The snake just looked at him and said, "You knew what I was when you picked me up!"
Temptation always comes from the enemy to test our faith and knowledge. The Bible says in James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." The devil will make promises he never intends to keep and he will encourage you to do things you know you shouldn't be doing, promising you that you will never get hurt. He will never let you see the end result of the path that he tries to get you on, because if he did, you would never consider sinning against the Lord.
- david langerfeld
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