BEAR DANGER

Submit yourselves therefore to

God. Resist the devil and he

will flee from you.

James 4:7

Almost all children growing up have owned a teddy bear. For many years, there wasn't the abundance of stuffed animals like now. Children loved their teddy bears as friends and companions. They were soft and cuddly, mostly in dark color. I, today, own a stuffed black bear resembling a black bear in the park that Brian bought me after the first time we walked through the 11 mile Cades Cove Loop.

Black bears in the mountains have become a kind of trademark/logo representing the national park. However, they are still wild animals and must be treated as such. On one occasion while driving through a “bear block” caused by a medium size bear near the road, we noticed a young father, stooped down with his two-three year old moving closer and closer to the bear. The bear was casually feasting on the grass, not really paying attention to the crowd and especially to the young dad. That was fortunate for that young dad, because in a moment, that bear feeling threatened could have easily pounced on the dad and child. Bears can be very quick in movement. It could have been a tragedy, but the bear would have been blamed and euthanized.

Because of instances like that, park rangers have posted a variety of warning signs, such as:

“Don't feed the bears”

“Stay 50 yards (150 feet) away from bears”

“Caution, bears in area.”

Such bears cn't be confused with a child's teddy bear that may be at home on a bed. The dangers are real. Every effort is made to keep people safe, but we see so many folks being foolishly daring toward these protected creatures, who are usually minding their own business.

We can be much the same of mind in dealing with Satan. I realize we don't have a physical image of him with which to toy, but he is as real as those bears I've mentioned, except more so. Satan can be attractive, perhaps even cute, in his drawing us into his snares. We almost regard him as being “tame” and not much of a threat. That's exactly what he wants us to think of him. We may even draw a little too close to the world at times, and find ourselves not resisting Satan like we thought we would or could. Satan can be attractive and alluring, but like those wild bears, can suddenly pounce on us in very destructive ways.

Scripture says if we resist Satan, he will flee from us. Just as the park posts a variety of warning signs, God has provided His own warning signs in His Word. Tourists may make decisions all the time regarding heeding warning signs. Spiritually, we don't have any excuses for not knowing God's expectations.. We too must decide if we are going to feed Satan's ego or simply walk in obedience to God's Word. It's the safest place to be no matter the beast of the world we may meet up with.

Thank You Father for your provision of keeping us spiritually safe. You are so clear in warnings in your Word regarding resisting Satan. May we know those warnings and keep them. Keep us alert and strong in the face of Satan's ploys. In Jesus' precious and very strong name...Amen