WISE AND HARMLESS

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep

in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore

wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

(Matthew 10:16 KJV)

What does it mean to be wise as serpents

and harmless as doves?

I certainly am not an expert on the subject.

But I have to wonder, what is it that Christ

is trying to tell me by using these critters as

an example and how can I apply it?

First, serpents or to most of us snakes.  Again

my knowledge is limited but I have had more

experience around them than most people.  If

I remember correctly I have had four "pet" snakes.

That is, if you can call a snake a pet, and ran across

numbers around the house and in the woods.  My

pets at different times and places were two different

"Gopher" snakes as we used to call them.  One "Boa

constrictor," and one "Hog Nose" snake.

Wise as serpents.

One snakes are quiet.  You hardly even hear

one "hiss".  If we want to be wise as a serpent we

will have to learn to shut our mouth.  I one time went

through the entire Bible noting down references about

talking.  If I remember correctly there were twenty three

references.  The essence of all of them was "Let your 

words be few".

Two.

You do not see snakes going around taking "selfies".

Even the very pretty snakes try to stay out of sight.

You never see a snake showing off how pretty or 

good looking it is.

Harmless as doves.

All my life I have loved to hear the doves as they

"cooed" to each other.  But the last few years while

my wife was trying to feed all the birds in the county,

I saw that of all the birds the doves were the most 

patient.  They would sit back and wait their turn.  

So what do I learn for myself about being as 

wise as serpents and harmless as doves?

l.  Keep my mouth shut.

2. Step back and let the others put the show on.

3. Be patient, sit on the sideline waiting my turn.