Comment
Print
If you've been around the woods or the farm long enough, you have had the opportunity to fight a swarm of bees. This is the season for those little yellow jackets to let you know who the boss is. I'm especially alert right now while I'm moving tree stands from one place to another. I can remember one time while I was clearing a fence row I stirred up a swarm. I was stung several places in a matter of seconds. I know that if anyone would have seen me running and kicking and swatting, they would have thought I had stumbled on to and old moonshine still.
The bible talks about a sting as well. It's called the sting of death. The writer of that verse asks, "Oh death where is your sting?" He knew when Jesus died on the cross; He took the sting out of death for all of those who would receive Him. There's a great "bee" story that illustrates it best.
A little boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Suddenly out of nowhere a bumblebee flew in the car window. Since the little boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, he became petrified. But the father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic again as it buzzed by him. His father saw his panic-stricken face. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his hand. There still stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he asked. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you." This is the message of the cross. We do not need to be afraid of death anymore. Christ faced death for us. He has taken the sting!
Gary Miller
Outdoor Truths Ministries
