I couldn’t help but notice the picture and the headline as I was on-line earlier today. In some remote village in the Philippines, villagers and several veteran hunters caught a crocodile late Saturday. And not just any crocodile. A big one. Huge is more like it. The crocodile measured 21'. That’s right, 21'! And about half of it was tail. (It is about as long as the body of the croc you see in the picture). Can you imagine getting hit by that? It would have to kill you. I guess I’d rather get killed by a snap of the croc's tail than by his bone-crushing jaws!
Of course, everything else on this larger-than-life crocodile was huge as well. The head was scary big. The teeth were monstrous! It took over 100 people to finally capture and secure the reptile. That was after the croc had destroyed 4 earlier traps. They had to resort to using steel cables. Then a crane had to be used to lift it on to a truck. The reason why is that the croc weighed in at 2,370 lbs. Or slightly over a ton!
The crocodile is a veritable monster. I had no idea that any crocodile, anywhere, could get that large. The first thing I thought of when I saw its picture is - what does it eat & how much does it eat? Apparently, it ate a fisherman who went missing in July. And last month it ate a water buffalo. A water buffalo! That’s not exactly in the same category as a chicken. A water buffalo is big game. Then again, this is a big croc.
The crocodile was captured alive so that it could be the star in a planned eco-tourism park in the southern Philippines. It makes we wonder what kind of enclosure they are going to have to build to house it? And what is it going to eat? And who is going to feed it? Somehow I don’t see the late Steve Irwin wrestling with it. What is absolutely amazing about this is that the locals (and the crocodile hunters) feel that there is an even bigger crocodile lurking around nearby. All I can say about that is, wow!
In my way of thinking, this huge crocodile is a picture of sin. Sin is not a cute, furry bunny rabbit. Or a fuzzy little chic. Sin is a monstrous crocodile. It swims in the dark, murky waters of the world. It is dangerous. It cares about only one thing - feeding itself. As such it carefully stalks its prey. It doesn’t matter who that prey is. Man. Woman. Teen. Child. It has an insatiable appetite and will devour anyone and everything. Only a fool would think that they are strong enough to take it on and win. As such, sin is a menace. An ever-present evil that can strike at any moment. Every day untold millions of people are devoured by it.
Fortunately, there is one person who has conquered sin. Jesus. The Son of God. In I Corinthians 15:56-57 we read, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” When Jesus died on the cross, He defeated Satan and forever broke the power of sin. The crocodile’s jaw was broken. Its teeth were removed. It is still fearsome to look at but it no longer has any power over God’s people. Someday, it will be destroyed altogether. And even its memory will cease to exist. Praise God!
Lord, I thank you that, through Jesus, sin has lost its power. While it still looks fearsome and intimidating at times, it is toothless. It cannot harm me. May I realize this and daily live in victory over it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Of course, everything else on this larger-than-life crocodile was huge as well. The head was scary big. The teeth were monstrous! It took over 100 people to finally capture and secure the reptile. That was after the croc had destroyed 4 earlier traps. They had to resort to using steel cables. Then a crane had to be used to lift it on to a truck. The reason why is that the croc weighed in at 2,370 lbs. Or slightly over a ton!
The crocodile is a veritable monster. I had no idea that any crocodile, anywhere, could get that large. The first thing I thought of when I saw its picture is - what does it eat & how much does it eat? Apparently, it ate a fisherman who went missing in July. And last month it ate a water buffalo. A water buffalo! That’s not exactly in the same category as a chicken. A water buffalo is big game. Then again, this is a big croc.
The crocodile was captured alive so that it could be the star in a planned eco-tourism park in the southern Philippines. It makes we wonder what kind of enclosure they are going to have to build to house it? And what is it going to eat? And who is going to feed it? Somehow I don’t see the late Steve Irwin wrestling with it. What is absolutely amazing about this is that the locals (and the crocodile hunters) feel that there is an even bigger crocodile lurking around nearby. All I can say about that is, wow!
In my way of thinking, this huge crocodile is a picture of sin. Sin is not a cute, furry bunny rabbit. Or a fuzzy little chic. Sin is a monstrous crocodile. It swims in the dark, murky waters of the world. It is dangerous. It cares about only one thing - feeding itself. As such it carefully stalks its prey. It doesn’t matter who that prey is. Man. Woman. Teen. Child. It has an insatiable appetite and will devour anyone and everything. Only a fool would think that they are strong enough to take it on and win. As such, sin is a menace. An ever-present evil that can strike at any moment. Every day untold millions of people are devoured by it.
Fortunately, there is one person who has conquered sin. Jesus. The Son of God. In I Corinthians 15:56-57 we read, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” When Jesus died on the cross, He defeated Satan and forever broke the power of sin. The crocodile’s jaw was broken. Its teeth were removed. It is still fearsome to look at but it no longer has any power over God’s people. Someday, it will be destroyed altogether. And even its memory will cease to exist. Praise God!
Lord, I thank you that, through Jesus, sin has lost its power. While it still looks fearsome and intimidating at times, it is toothless. It cannot harm me. May I realize this and daily live in victory over it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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