Parable of a Rooster

Holy Land Picture of the Day

Golan Heights Trenches Today's picture is of the trenches used by Israel soldiers to repel attacks by Syrian troops in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It reminds us of Joshua 23:9-11; "For the LORD has driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God"  “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert, Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8). Hey Gang:  Between flunking out of college for the third time and joining the Air Force, I worked at a dairy.  My job consisted of picking up milk up at 53 Amish farms located around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Pulling 85 pound milk cans from coolers on sloppy floors is not what one might call a fun-filled job.  By the third stop I was wet from the waist down and by the fifth stop I was, what my dear sainted mom would call, ‘soppy wet’.  Not too bad in the warm summer days but not so wonderful when the weather was frosty. But I loved it, not because of the conditions but because of the wonderful experiences and conversations with my many Amish friends.  One of their great joys was story-telling and there was no experience that did not deserve a good story to be shared by all.  One morning Amos Zook was bursting at the seams to share a story pertaining to a problem his young – uns were having feeding the chickens.  It seems there was a pesky rooster that took after them as soon as they opened the gate with their pan of grain.  Twelve year old Anna informed her daddy that she was scared of the critter and did not want to place her life in jeopardy again. Amos let it be known that her problem was that the rooster thought he was in charge and needed a lesson in obedience.  He said, “Now Anna, take this stick with you the next time and let old rooster Joe know who is the boss.” When asked later who was winning the battle of the rooster, Anna said, “He don’t like the stick much and he is still mean as can be but he fears the stick more than me and keeps his space.”  Does that story remind you of Sluefoot and his ways?  We are told to keep our armor in place and as long as we do, Satan does not know the difference between Jesus and His children.  It is when we take off the helmet of Salvation and begin to look around that Satan lets us know, “I got cha”.  Soooo friends, keep in mind ‘Your adversary the devil prowls like a roaring rooster, seeking whom he can make life miserable for today’ but darkness cannot abide in light, just as evil cannot abide in those who serve Christ. Blessings, Gramps