Snakes and Gators

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 NIV

I love alligators. I am not a fan of reptiles in general but I think they are beautiful. I of course have a healthy respect for them, but I am in awe of them as relics from another age. I know enough about them that I would not knowingly put myself in the path of one, but I am not afraid of them.

I loathe snakes. I do not like them Sam I am. I do not like them here or there; I do not like them anywhere. Why don't I like them? Because I am afraid of them. I can't like something I'm afraid of. I don't even like the fake ones! I won't purposely hurt one because i respect all God's creatures. But he could have left snakes off the ark.

Some people are afraid of dogs or cats or horses or spiders. They can't love something they're afraid of. So they avoid them. If we are afraid of God we can't love him and allow him to love us. We will avoid him and avoid his correction when we do wrong. It's not punishment. God's not punishing us. He's already forgiven us. He's not waiting to strike at us every time we screw up because he already knows! He's just patiently waiting for us to acknowledge what we did, make it right, and move on. That's love.

We have no reason to fear God. We must have respect for him and be in awe of his greatness but we should not fear him so that we avoid him.

Let him perfect his work in you in love.