Don't Pick It Up!

​There is a story about a man who was on a mountain and saw a snake. The snake was cold, and he asked the man to carry him down to where it was warmer. The man said, "No, you’ll bite me," but the snake promised he would not. The man believed the snake, picked him up, and carried him down.
 
Of course, after a while, the snake did exactly as the man had feared – it bit him! The man said, "You promised not to bite me," and the snake said, "You knew what I was when you picked me up."
 
Often there are things that have not been good for us. They might have even "bit" us in the past, causing us to spiritually stumble or fall. God gives us victory, but then a little snake comes along. "Surely we can handle it now," we tell ourselves. We feel much stronger than we were before.
 
Just as we cannot literally place a fire inside our shirt without painful results, we cannot pick up those "snakes" (things that have caused us so much trouble in the past) without equally painful results. The next time the enemy tells you that NOW you are strong enough to handle those "snakes," remember he is a liar. Regardless of how long you have been saved, the things that you struggled with in the past must be avoided! It is good to remember the words of the snake: "You knew what I was when you picked me up."