Wise as a Serpent

Day nineteen

Today looked to be one of those days that I truly enjoy; where you are busy, but not crazy busy, and there are time slots in your day to sit back and relax.  I was looking forward to today with a heart filled with gratitude that the Lord knows me well enough to know when I need a break.  So my prayer this morning was filled with more gratitude than requests.  It was a simple prayer filled with great love for my Father in Heaven and my Savior.

I moved on to my scripture study not really searching for anything in particular, just wanting to be filled.  It turned out to be a very interesting experience.

I began in Section 111.  This section is only 11 verses long, but the lessons found in this section are powerful. 

The words in verse 11 really stood out to me:  "...be ye wise as serpents and yet without sin..."  What does it mean to be wise as a serpent?

In a New Era article written by David E Edwards he gives this definition:  "We should be innocent but not naive; we should understand the ways of the world without being worldly."

Okay, but HOW do you do that?

I went back and read all the verses again.  I noticed a pattern, the Lord makes a lot of 'I' statements: I have (v 2); I will gather (v2); I will give (v 4, 5); I will deal mercifully (v 6); I will order (v 11).

I began to think, what should my 'I' statement be?  This is what I came up with:  I will seek the Lord's wisdom in all things and follow His guidance.  This seems the safest bet to be in the world, but not of it. 

I moved on to Section 112.  As I read verse 23 it brought me to the 'darkness' in the world.  It states:  "Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkenss coverth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face."  Yikes!

How do I fight the darkness?  My previous 'I' statement would work, but was there more I could learn?  I went back and reread the section.  Here is what I found:

v 2 - What are the things in my heart?
v 3 - humble myself
v 4 - let thy heart be of good cheer
v 5 - listen to the warning voice
v 7 - jump in and do the Lord's work
v 10 - be humble and let the Lord lead me
v 11 - pray and love others as I love myself
v 14 - jump in and work, bear my cross, follow the Lord, and teach others.
v 15 - keep my ego in check
v 22 - be humble, live the scriptures, listen to the Spirit
v 28 - purify my heart
v 33 - understand who you are
v 34 - be faithful

There is a lot of repetition in these verses, which usually means the Lord is trying to make a point.  What point is He trying to make?  That I really need to have a knowledge of these things.  These are the things that should be in my heart.

My son once said to me,"People don't seem to understand that the darkness is real."  I think that is a 'wise as a serpent' statement.  How grateful I am that my son recognizes that the darkness is real, because I think we all find ourselves in the darkness sometimes and need to find our way out.  If we know what it is, then we can figure out how to fight back.  The Lord gives us great wisdom in Sections 111-112 to fight back.  If only the world would listen!