Aesop tells the ancient story of a boy hunting for locusts. The lad had caught quite a few when he saw a scorpion. Mistaking it for a locust, he reached out his hand to take it. the scorpion showed his stinger and said, “If you had but touched me, my friend, you would have lost me, and all your locusts too!”
There are some things we cannot embrace without losing what we have in the process.
King Solomon used a word picture of fire instead of a scorpion as he warned his son against the dangers of sexual sin (Proverbs 6:27-29). As a wise father, he wanted his son to know that in this wonderful, dangerous world there are not only flowers and songbirds but also scorpions and fires.
Solomon’s warnings in the Proverbs were not just about sexual immorality. Together with the rest of the Bible, such insights help us to understand the wisdom of an eternal God who loves us far more than our own mothers and fathers do. His Word also points us to the One who can help us even if we have “grabbed a scorpion” or “built fire in our lap.”
Life offers us choices. Christ graciously offers us forgiveness for what is past, and wisdom for what yet lies ahead. – Martin R. De Haan
Search out in me all hidden sin,
And may Thy purity within
So cleanse my life that it may be
A temple wholly fit for Thee. – Smith
The lessons of life are best learned when Christ is your teacher.
- May 26, Vol. 14, Our Daily Bread
For You 