John loves to repeat stories that he Grandpa told him over the years. He shared one in particular with me a few days ago.
It seems his Grandpa loved to go hunting; fox , opossum, skunk, etc. One particular night his Grandpa was hunting for opossums with a friend. Now for those of you "young'uns" who know nothing about an opossum other than what they look like, according to Wilkipedia, when threatened or harmed, they will " play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of ...a sick or dead animal. When an opossum is "playing possum", the animal's lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of between 40 minutes and 4 hours, a process that begins with slight twitching of the ears.
It seems his Grandpa loved to go hunting; fox , opossum, skunk, etc. One particular night his Grandpa was hunting for opossums with a friend. Now for those of you "young'uns" who know nothing about an opossum other than what they look like, according to Wilkipedia, when threatened or harmed, they will " play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of ...a sick or dead animal. When an opossum is "playing possum", the animal's lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of between 40 minutes and 4 hours, a process that begins with slight twitching of the ears.
Grandpa and his friend had caught several opossums. One of them was "playing possum" with teeth bared. Grandpa's friend thought it would be funny to stick his finger in the opossum's mouth.
"You're gonna be sorry if you keep on doin' that 'cause that ole' possum is gonna clamp down on your finger and it's agonna hurt" Grandpa told his friend.
"Naw, he's a sullen' and he ain't gonna bite me 'cause he's asleep and when they's asleep, they ain't gonna bite", was the reply.
As they walked along with Grandpa still giving warning, Grandpa's friend kept laughing and telling Grandpa he was fine and how funny this was.
"Hey, you got awful quiet back there. What's a happenin'? Grandpa asked.
No answer.
"You ahearin' me?" Grandpa said as he turned around toward his friend.
"He's got me........" said his friend, sheepishly, "and I can't get his mouth pried open."
Isn't that the way sin is? People can warn against the outcome of sin and yet, people continue in their sinful way thinking they are immune from the pain of sin.
"My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God." James 5:20 (MSG)
"You're gonna be sorry if you keep on doin' that 'cause that ole' possum is gonna clamp down on your finger and it's agonna hurt" Grandpa told his friend.
"Naw, he's a sullen' and he ain't gonna bite me 'cause he's asleep and when they's asleep, they ain't gonna bite", was the reply.
As they walked along with Grandpa still giving warning, Grandpa's friend kept laughing and telling Grandpa he was fine and how funny this was.
"Hey, you got awful quiet back there. What's a happenin'? Grandpa asked.
No answer.
"You ahearin' me?" Grandpa said as he turned around toward his friend.
"He's got me........" said his friend, sheepishly, "and I can't get his mouth pried open."
Isn't that the way sin is? People can warn against the outcome of sin and yet, people continue in their sinful way thinking they are immune from the pain of sin.
"My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God." James 5:20 (MSG)
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