My cell phone warbled late at night. What would the “picture message” sent from my youngest son hold? Maybe it would be a picture of a giant fuzzy heart with the words “I love you Mom!” or a picture of one of his four dogs performing some crazy stunt. Nope, I received this. The sight of my son with his new, ball python wrapped around his head; however, did not warm the cockles of my heart nor bring me sweet slumber through the night.
According to Genesis 3:15, I wasn’t supposed to like the picture. In the passage the Lord says to the serpent “I will put enmity between you and the woman,” (ESV) and I can honestly say I have enmity between me and snakes. I hate them.
The baby of the family, Joel, is our rebel child and he sports tatts, piercings, and muscles. When we walk down the street together, people crane their necks. I don’t know if they want a second look at my son or if they want to provide assistance to the woman who might be in mortal danger.
Have I lost sleep over him? Yes, I have. Has my chest clenched with near panic when I think of him? Yes, it has. And then I remember the sweet, towheaded, little boy, who loved people - the one who could draw a crowd into joy within moments. I remember the five year old boy who poked his head out of the camper door and said “I need to invite Jesus into my heart.”
The Lord doesn’t forget our rebels. His presence follows them wherever they go. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) Mothers of rebels take heart; in the end Jesus wins. The verse in Genesis tells us the serpent merely bruises Jesus’ heel but Jesus bruises the serpent’s head!