Reggie Legend; The Tortoise and the Snare…

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(ThyBlackMan.com) ‘For man knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in a snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.’ – Ecclesiastes 9:12

Earlier this week, I saw a turtle crossing the road as I ventured out on my daily work route. While I’m accustomed to coming across the occasional squirrel (dead or alive) in the road, I was taken aback by this reptilian creature’s appearance. It wasn’t dead yet, but at the rate it was going – it seemed only a matter of time. As I passed it, I couldn’t help but think aloud “How could this turtle be so stupid as to wander into traffic?!! Aren’t animals supposed to be programmed with a sixth sense of sorts that helps them discern danger and predators?”

I suppose it is truly the rule of the survival of the fittest at work – those who are keen enough to stay out of the road live to pass their genes along while the others who have this sense underdeveloped end up as roadkill.

As I was pondering over this, the Spirit of God spoke to me and dropped two points in my mind. The first being that perhaps this turtle’s shell has given him a false sense of security. Now obviously, a turtle isn’t rationalizing and weighing such points so the Spirit swiftly took me to Its second point:

What about these ninja turtle young guns out here who, armed to the teeth, claim to have no fear of dying?

I was dumbstruck and excited at the idea of expounding on such a concept metaphorically delivered to me by way of a turtle that was very likely near the end of his race and time on earth!

The sad fact of urban warfare is that we have a generation of youth who are trapped in the snares of a lifestyle of death: taking on all challengers with reckless abandon with guns and armor as their source of courage and power. I would even go as far as saying that these young men don’t lack a natural fear of dying as much as they are scared to live. Trapped in a race that has already chopped off one foot and tied the other leg behind their back, they have been handicapped in their surroundings. Survival of the fittest, indeed.

How else can the mindsets of these men develop in a world where they see breaks being given to the undeserved while they’re trying to make ends meet for their families?:

~

Pulling Hamstrings

Pulling strings for folks
Leads them to believe they’ve got
A leg up on things.

*

A Strong Arm and a Leg Up

I’ll gladly expense
An extended appendage
For my lineage.

~

So as the world rewards those who would perpetuate injustice for their own benefit, how else will those outside of the system react when their resources are cut short? How else will the hearts and minds of people who’ve become products of their environments warm up to the global trends if they have no belief in a God Who would allow this; in a God Who they don’t believe truly rains on the just and unjust alike (Matthew 5:45)?

In such conditions, who has time to reflect on the Aesopian lessons of the tortoise and the hare while running with snakes in the rat race of humanity?!! The focus in such a marathon becomes a matter of eat or be eaten – kill or be killed.

~

Losing the Rat Race by a Hare
a.k.a.
Tracking Distractions: Sidelining Sidewinders

While the race goes not
To the swift, the wise snake’s on
The side getting chicks!

‘Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” ’
– Genesis 3:1 NIV

*

‘I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.’
– Ecclesiastes 9:11

~

Christians, this is where you must shine, though! This is where you must come in to show the advantage that you have over the world, for ‘Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world’ (1 John 4:4).

The Lord has given us power over every evil to wage war in a battle that’s already been won! When Jesus blessed the disciples with power in their mission to overcome evil but cautioned of the dangers of spiritual warfare, He was talking to present-day believers as well!:

‘But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give… Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.’ – Matthew 10:6-8, 16

The lost sheep are the ones that must witness a new power in the earth so that they can lay down being armed to the teeth with guns in favor of picking up their cross and sword of the Spirit a.k.a. The Word of God!

~

Caught in the Teeth: Biting Biblical Bullets

The metaphor of
Yesterday’s sword is today’s
Gun play on words drawn.

~

So Christians take up arms and fight but be cautious! While we should adopt the same attitude of the inner city – one of a fearlessness of death since the Lord we served conquered death – as we stand in the whole armor of God… BEWARE! Going out blindly into traffic without proper spiritual discernment and knowledge of your weaponry is an easy way to get waxed and flattened against the pavement as well!: