MD

The sun was just beginning to rise over the small Venezuelan village. Another work day had come and many of the men would soon be heading for the sugar cane fields. Carlos knew it would be a hot day. But what really worried him were the poisonous snakes. Just one bite would mean certain death and working among the tall sugar cane plants didn't allow you much time to see them. He sighed heavily as he pulled on his leather boots and headed off to work.

Though it was cooler in the early part of the day, the sweat was already pouring off him as Carlos stopped to get a drink. He started back to work but suddenly, he felt a sharp needle-like pain just below the top of his boot. Quickly, he whirled around to see a long snake slithering away in the grass. In an instant, Carlos slashed his machete knife at the serpent and killed him. "Whew", he thought, "that was a close one! I'll have to really watch it now." But as he bent over to start cutting again, he began to feel dizzy and hot. He quickly became worse and he knew he had to get home. But he had just staggered through the doorway when he collapsed and breathed his last. The family was crushed with his sudden death.

It looked as though Roberto, the oldest son, would have to try to take his father's place. So, a few mornings later, he pulled on his father's leather boots, picked up the machete, and headed down the road. But Roberto's workday had hardly begun when he too began to feel deathly sick. Everything whirled around him as he groped his way back to the village. Soon he fell to the ground and died. Tragedy had struck again.

A few days after the funeral, a relative of the family dropped by to see if he could use the leather boots which the two other men had used. But to their horror, exactly the same thing happened to this poor man soon after he had put on the boots.

What was it about the boots that caused these awful deaths? Carefully, one of the villagers ran his fingers down the inside lining of the leather boots. Soon he noticed a sharp needle sticking out of the leather. As he cautiously pulled it out, it was now obvious to everybody that it was the tip of the poisonous fang of the snake that had bitten Carlos. One snake bite had killed 3 men!

Isn't that just like sin? One sin brought death to all men - and today the whole world is guilty before God because of sin. How good to know that there is a remedy for that problem. The Lord Jesus was willing to hang upon a cross and to die for our sins that we might be forgiven. Have you looked to Christ for salvation?