Be Careful Who You Let Close To You

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in people.

Psalm 118:8 

 

As a child, our family vacations were always times of learning.  I'll just admit it, I love the Southwest!  One of our family trips was to a place called Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico where we could see cliff dwellings and Native American ingenuity.  Our guide happened to be a Native American gentleman who had lots of stories, which also helped keep me from lagging behind because they were interesting and I didn't want to miss any part of it.

 

He told the story of a boy who went to a mountain top to have a spiritual vision.  When he got ready to go back down the mountain, a rattlesnake called to him and said, "Please, it's so cold up here.  Let me inside your shirt so I can stay warm and take me down the mountain out of this cold."  The boy refused, "But you're a rattlesnake!  You could bite me and kill me. No! I won't do it."

 

The rattlesnake continued to beg sounding more and more pitiful until finally the boy relented and said, "Okay, I'll take you down the mountain in my shirt.  BUT...You must PROMISE ME that you will do me no harm."  The rattlesnake promised and off they went back down the mountain.  When they reached the valley, the rattlesnake promptly bit the boy three times.  As the venom did its work, the boy looked at the snake with the light fading from his eyes.  The snake said, "Don't look at me like that.  You knew I was a rattlesnake when you let me next to you.  This is YOUR fault."

 

After that story, the gentleman said, "We have to be careful who we let close to us.  Not all you say nice things are our friends."  Which is true!  But there's also another lesson here, we have to be careful what we allow in our minds because our thoughts will turn into actions which will make or break our ministry.