March 22

So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live. 

Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."  

Texans know about snakebite.  Even at best it is not fun, and at the worst it can be fatal. I've seen good sized rattlers, not just in Texas, but in Pennsylvania as well.  Once in the Philippines, we had a cobra show up in our living room.  So far I've managed to avoid such critters. 

I've been less fortunate with that Ancient Serpent, Satan, The Father of Lies, The Deceiver. That monster has sunk his fangs into me countless times, and has filled me with his poison.  Sometimes I have been so full of venom that I've actually become addicted to it;  sought it out even to the point of looking death in the face. 

But I'm still here.  There is a remedy.  A reminder of that remedy hangs on every wall in my home and I wear one around my neck.  It is the pierced Body of Christ from which flows life-giving eternal life.  It is the anti-venom which heals, restores, strengthens.  That Body, that Blood is the supernatural remedy that delivers me from the attacks of that Ancient Serpent.  It is what our mothers and fathers in the faith called the “medicine of immortality.” 

It never fails.