This morning I asked my young son to open our back patio door to let our dog out. Right after hearing it open, both came quickly running to the safety of the living room couch. I look just inside our back patio door to find a small garden snake slithering around on our wood floor.
I should probably mention that I am terrified of snakes. I honestly hate them, even though I don’t like the word hate. But adrenaline and panic initiated action to push the snake back outside with a dust pan.
Now with the snake on the back patio and we safely inside, we begin watching it move towards our door again. So I decide to ‘put on my big girl panties’ and try to rescue the snake into a bucket to transfer him to the empty lot across the street. Since I was using a broom to persuade him, the snake got angry with me, raised up its head and opened its mouth.
Even though this little guy’s head was smaller than my pinky finger, his reaction was enough to send me back inside and just let it be. But needless to say I couldn’t relax or even sit down the rest of the morning. We now believe the snake made it to the safety of the grass, but we can’t confirm it’s whereabouts. Regardless, I have to laugh at how such a small harmless snack caused such a stir in my soul.
I can’t help but correlate the disruption by this little snake as what can occur when we let anything small – like a harsh word from another replay in our head or when we chose shame and ‘should haves’ when it comes to past health choices rather than moving forward in His freedom and grace or when we compare someone’s social media life to our reality. Yes, snakes are evil, but this little guy’s appearance was a stark reminder of how easy it is to give something small too much power over us.
As we move into summer and are intentional to savor all the things, we must ensure we savor the scriptures and His Spirit, soaking up the Son. This is where the true power lies. As we remain in Him, the little things of this world can remain little.
As a group, let’s dive into and savor the power and truth of Hebrews. Each week, we’ll read a chapter slowly as well as have the opportunity to go through a YouVersion reading plan together. As we savor the words in this God-breathed book, we’ll be reminded of Jesus’ superiority and the value of living in faith! The author references Old Testament people so go look up their stories as well. We’ll celebrate the Savior and savor His power as we’re challenged by the words of Hebrews. And don’t worry, there’s no mention of snakes in this book of the Bible.
Let’s make summer about Jesus! As we enjoy the sunshine of this season, let’s shift our gaze to the Son.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Hebrews 1:3 NIV
To help us gain a better understanding of Hebrews, here is a great video from the Bible Project:
As the little lies, hurts, shame, snakes, whatever, appear this summer, let’s remember Hebrews 4:16 and maybe even move your body through the scripture flow to settle back into savoring your summer:
‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’
Holy Barre 