Daily Lesson for October 13, 2015

Today's Daily lesson comes from Matthew chapter 10 verse 16:

16 "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."

Now here is direct instruction from Jesus on integration of the whole person -- permission on both the yin and the yang, the lion and the lamb, the serpent and the dove.

To be wise like a serpent is to first off know just what a dangerous world it is and just how many predators there are out there. They know that if you want trouble you'll have no problem finding it. They also know the best way to keep from trouble is to stay away from it. A person who is wise as a snake is a shrewd and self-protecting person. They don't avoid necessary conflict, but they also don't go looking for snake hunters either. Snakes have read Shakespeare; they know the better part of valor is discretion.

Doves, on the other hand, are gentle-spirited and guileless.  A dove is so innocent and trusting that she'll place her eggs just right out in the open.  When I go out jogging during the nesting season I never get chased by doves. And in that Hitchcock horror movie "The Birds" there was not a dove to be found. Doves just don't attack people.

We are to be both wise as serpents and innocent as doves.  But let's also be clear not to get them confused. Serpents are wise enough to know trouble is out; doves sometimes miss that. And doves are harmless enough that one in a horror film just wouldn't even be believable by the general public, while there have been plenty of horror movies about killer snakes.  Remember, Jesus did not say be innocent as serpents or wise as doves; that's a mistake a lot of people make and either way it's deadly.

Be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove and be both all day and every day.