It happened two weeks ago in Costa Rica. I was traveling from the capital city of San Jose to the resort area of Los Suenos with a group of ministers and missionaries when our bus stopped at a local tourist attraction. Other than a roadside market selling fresh fruit, the only unique feature I could see was a long bridge spanning a muddy river. I wondered, “What’s the big attraction?”
Walking out onto the narrow bridge and peering over the side, I quickly discovered that the attraction wasn’t the river itself but what was in the river and along its banks. Crocodiles! Big crocodiles! Lots and lots of really big crocodiles!
At first, I actually thought the crocodiles were fakes. I mean, they were so big! I’ve seen a lot of alligators in Florida, but these crocodiles were enormous. Add to that, they weren’t moving at all. Not a muscle.
That’s when the show began. As we stood looking down into the crocodile-infested river, someone from the market came out with a cage full of live chickens. Suddenly, scores of live chickens were tossed from the bridge to their miserable fate below. As the river churned with crocodiles feasting on chickens I thought of the Chick-Fil-A slogan “Eat More Chickin’”. Can’t you just see a Chick-Fil-A cow standing on the bridge holding that sign?
Standing on that two-lane bridge with missionary Jeff Dove, gazing over the rickety railing at dozens upon dozens of crocodiles gorging themselves on live chickens, and with tour buses flying by within a few feet of where we were standing, the thought suddenly occurred to us – this is a very unsafe place to be! It was. So we left.
Face it. There are some bad places in life – physically and spiritually. I’m talking about dangerous places where but for the grace of God something bad is very likely to happen. Places where temptation is sure to hit and opportunities to go astray abound. I’m talking about places in life where you must not go, and if you happen to find yourself there you must get out fast.
What do you do? I think of the comical story of the guy who told his doctor, “I broke my arm in two places.” The doctor replied, “Well then, stay out of those places!”
When it comes to bad places, remember the words of Proverbs 4:14-15, “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on.”
Pastor Todd Weston
Walking out onto the narrow bridge and peering over the side, I quickly discovered that the attraction wasn’t the river itself but what was in the river and along its banks. Crocodiles! Big crocodiles! Lots and lots of really big crocodiles!
At first, I actually thought the crocodiles were fakes. I mean, they were so big! I’ve seen a lot of alligators in Florida, but these crocodiles were enormous. Add to that, they weren’t moving at all. Not a muscle.
That’s when the show began. As we stood looking down into the crocodile-infested river, someone from the market came out with a cage full of live chickens. Suddenly, scores of live chickens were tossed from the bridge to their miserable fate below. As the river churned with crocodiles feasting on chickens I thought of the Chick-Fil-A slogan “Eat More Chickin’”. Can’t you just see a Chick-Fil-A cow standing on the bridge holding that sign?
Standing on that two-lane bridge with missionary Jeff Dove, gazing over the rickety railing at dozens upon dozens of crocodiles gorging themselves on live chickens, and with tour buses flying by within a few feet of where we were standing, the thought suddenly occurred to us – this is a very unsafe place to be! It was. So we left.
Face it. There are some bad places in life – physically and spiritually. I’m talking about dangerous places where but for the grace of God something bad is very likely to happen. Places where temptation is sure to hit and opportunities to go astray abound. I’m talking about places in life where you must not go, and if you happen to find yourself there you must get out fast.
What do you do? I think of the comical story of the guy who told his doctor, “I broke my arm in two places.” The doctor replied, “Well then, stay out of those places!”
When it comes to bad places, remember the words of Proverbs 4:14-15, “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on.”
Pastor Todd Weston
