There is no hidden meaning in the title but there is a lesson. “But,” you ask, “why would you want to meet a skunk? I mean, who WANTS to meet a skunk?” Exactly!
After being inside all day, last night I decided to take a stroll around the yard, thanking God once again for this place I get to call “Home.” As I was walking, gazing up at the stars I nearly ran, no walked, into our little Red Bud tree. Thankfully, it just tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, this spot is taken.”
I continued to wander and decided to sit on the kids’ gym set. As I was considering this, I looked down and saw a figure. Now, bear with me— I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed! My first thought was Adam, our five-year-old grandson who lives next door. It was a fleeting thought, thankfully, but I couldn’t understand why he would be crouching down after dark in the grass by his gym set.
That’s when I looked a little closer, noticing the black and white coloring! Then, it moved! Now remember, it was REALLY dark, but I knew enough to make a hasty retreat! Oh, my heart was pounding as I ran to the house!
Is there a lesson to learn? I suppose you are saying, “Yeah, don’t wander around in the dark!” I must admit, the skunk did change my thinking. I’ve always known that a deer or even a bear would run away, but a skunk could really do some damage!! Oh, the “what if” still stops my heart!
For me, the lesson is this: The darkness hides the danger. Stay in the light! Evil is always referred to as darkness. Spiritually speaking, we need to understand, love, study, memorize, and take in as much of the “Light” as possible! Only then will we be on guard when darkness surrounds us. Then, “this little light of mine” really has a chance to shine! Our “inner light” allows us to see right through Satan’s dark attacks no matter how subtle!
What if I had stumbled right into the skunk? The outcome would have been very evident! Tom wouldn’t have had to wonder what happened!
If we will “stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,” we will “not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). Satan HAD us in his grasp before we were born-again, and he is constantly setting up trip-lines to make us stumble. As born-again believers, it’s a challenge to be IN this world but not OF it—two little prepositions that make all the difference! Jesus said, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:16).
Peter also gives a sober warning: “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning” (2 Peter 2:20).
It boils down to this:
- Stay in the Light
- Don’t pick up the “smells” of this world and its ruler!
Aren’t you thankful that someday…
“The great dragon [will be] cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he [will be] cast to the earth, and his angels [will be] cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9, verb tense changed).
Beyond Common Sense 