R.P.

Kathy was moving. Her waterbed was set up in the new house, but there was still a lot to do. As she worked her way through boxes in the garage, she happened to look into the house. She may never forget what she saw. Inside, dangling from the ceiling, was a live boa constrictor!

Kathy screamed. She ran to her car. She could hardly drive, but she got to the nearest pay phone. Another woman was using the telephone, but when she saw Kathy, she quickly hung up. With her help, Kathy called her new landlord and told him there was a snake in the house, a snake as big around as her arm. She wanted her money back so she could move somewhere else.

But the landlord didn't believe her! He wouldn't return her money. She had signed a contract, and that was that. There was no reason to be so excited!

Kathy soon found out that her landlord wasn't the only one who thought the whole story was just too wild to be true. The lady at the phone booth didn't think there could be a snake that big in the house. Kathy told her daughter and other people, but they didn't believe it, either.

The next day, some friends came over. They found the huge snake and were able to kill it. They threw it in an old empty cupboard with no door and hauled it out behind the house.

Once more, Kathy called the man who had rented the house to her. She told him what had happened, and said that she still wanted her money back. "It's dead now - it can't hurt you," he said, but finally decided to come and see for himself.

As Kathy and the man walked through the tall grass toward the old cupboard, Kathy let the man walk on ahead. "Where is it?" he asked. When he got to the place, Kathy said, "Right there." The man looked down ... and jumped back screaming, grabbing his chest. "It's dead," Kathy said. "It can't hurt you!"

Of course, Kathy had been telling the truth all along. It seemed impossible, but there really was a huge snake in her house. Many people did not believe her, but it was still true. Even her landlord had to see the snake before he would believe Kathy. When he did see it, I think he wished that he had just believed!

You know, perhaps it seems impossible that the Lord Jesus Christ came back to life after he was dead and buried. But there were many people who saw him alive after his death. They were sure that he had been raised from the dead. And in the Bible, God, who cannot lie, tells us that "Christ died for our sins ... was buried, and ... rose again the third day." (I Corinthians 15:3,4) Jesus really did rise from the dead. The story is true. Do you believe it?