I can still see that long straight sandy white road and the wild blackberry bushes along the fence row which took us to my Daddy's old home place. My mother would often stop before we got where we were going so we could pick some blackberries. When my sister and I got out of the car, she would inevitably say, "Ya'll watch out for snakes!" Why she would send us into the bushes where their might be snakes was not something I thought much about then, but sometimes now as I remember, I shake my head in wonder.
Maybe she was teaching one of life's lessons. My mother was not a theologian, but maybe she was teaching a Jesus truth. Jesus called those early disciples to follow Him. On down the road a piece He teaches them to pray and as it does it, He has them praying, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:13). Maybe Jesus was telling those disciples and folks like us as well to watch out for the snakes in the blackberry bushes. Life with Jesus was risky even as it is now. Did He not tell them one day as He was sending them out, "I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves...?" (Matthew 10:16). When we start out with Jesus we mostly ignore the word about the possibilities of danger and risk.
What we ignore is the place where the journey with Jesus is going to take us. To follow Him is to walk with Him to the cross. The cross is the place where everything from personal ambitions to some coveted status is going to be cast aside for the sake of being obedient to Jesus. There have even been some whose willingness to sacrifice their very life for the Christ has been chronicled for us to see. Life with Christ is indeed a wonderful life. It is an abundant life. It is a life of joy and peace, but let us never lose sight of the fact that it is risky and dangerous. There are snakes in those blackberry bushes and to go after Jesus without seeing the possibilities is to ignore that word He spoke about counting the cost before we begin the journey.
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