Saturday, October 23, 2010

Beholder, Beware!

Psalm 65:11-13 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.

I love this view of the pasture. We don't even have a fence around it anymore since we don't have cows or a horse now. I took the picture late one afternoon trying to capture the golden glow of all the Ragweed that was blooming but the evening shadows cover some of the "glow". I don't know if ragweed grows in your part of the country or not but around here it's the culprit that's causing a lot of allergy problems for lots of people right now! Looks can be so deceiving! And isn't that the truth for so many other things? Satan will mask sin with all sorts of beautiful things that tempt our flesh. It's a bit like what a fisherman does to the fish--he dangles a beautifully colored, eye-catching lure on the end of a line and the fish thinks he's getting something he really wants....that is, until he realizes he's swallowed the hook!

As I looked closer at the ragweed blooms, I saw a bumblebee and a huge red wasp sucking up the nectar. Just looking at these stinging insects and remembering the pain and agony I have had from them in the past is enough to give me the shivers! I took the picture and got away from them as fast as I could! That's what we should do when we realize what Satan is trying to offer us! It may look pretty. It may feel good. It may smell nice. But if Satan is offering it....it's poison! Turn and run from it as fast as you can before it can get it's stinger into you!

I have this last word of caution: Beholder....Beware! Make sure what looks beautiful does not have some hidden hook or stinger in it before you partake of it!

God bless!

Marilyn

2 comments:

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Oh my goodness... ragweed nearly killed my son when he was in first grade... huge allergic attack. I hate it. We don't have it so much in NC, but allergies are kicking up again, and I'm allergic to pine. My house is surrounded by pine trees, so I stay inside as much as possible.

Funny how beauty is deceiving. We must be on alert at all times. The enemy prowls, and he's been at my door more than once in the past two months. Thankfully, I'm on to him; my God is bigger and is more than willing to tackle deception with truth.

Love you sister; keep the tissues handy!

peace~elaine

Tulabell said...

This is so true and for many of us, me especially, I do have to remember the pain satan put me through because of my sin. He always seems to entice me with that "doesn't that look fun?" idea and I have had to learn to differentiate between his whispers and my own and let me tell you it is an every day battle. But of course it is, he is trying to win me over so I will not reach salvation. Well he has a long battle ahead of him!