This article is another installment in Brother P’s series, “Lessons From the Nursing Home.”

My daily occupation is to help nursing home patients walk. Once, we had this guy who was very confused. Whenever I was walking with him, he would point at any little speck of paper or anything on the floor, and he’d then ask me, “Do you see that rattlesnake?” Then he would say, “That is a rattlesnake.” Then he would reach for it, and I would have to hold on to his belt, or he would fall over while reaching for the snake.

Of course, you’d have to be a bit confused to see a speck of paper and think it is a rattlesnake, but I believe that you’d have to be a bit more confused to reach out for that snake!

Sin is like a rattlesnake.

Take pornography, for example. We already know that pornography viewers have a difficult time with intimacy. We know that it destroys those who work in the field. We know that it dehumanizes and exploits women. We know that it scoffs in the face of God’s plan for love. We know that it causes untold damage to families and children. We know that it promotes abuse. In fact, you’d probably have a hard time coming up with a good use for sin.

So then, don’t reach out for that snake!

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.