Snapping Turtles

Snapping Turtles

Two species of snapping turtles are found in America.  Best known and is the Snapping Turtle.  This turtle has a rough ridged shell that is black and is not at all attractive, like the painted or spotted turtle.  Yet these unusual turtles are amazing.  Sitting on the bottom of lakes and ponds it opens its mouth, showing a tongue that is very much like a worm, waiting for unwary fish to swim in for a closer look and perhaps an exploratory nibble.

Alligator Snapping Turtles are a little different.  Looking alike these huge reptiles can weigh up to one hundred and fifty pounds!  Equipped with a beak that can snap a 2x4 in half these mighty turtles are dangerous.  Like their smaller cousins they are bad-tempered and snap at just about anything.

Once a snapping turtle latches on it won't let go.  Some people have cut off the head, which is a mistake, because the jaws don't unclench when one does that!  I remember when I was a boy on Lake Maxinkuckee, jewel of Northern Indiana, a family came to me (because I was the local turtle expert) because one of the kids had a snapping turtle attached to his toe!  Ouch!  I explained that all they had to do was light a match and put it under the turtle's chin and it would let go immediately and duck its head into its shell.  They were successful.

This memory triggered another memory in James 1:13-15.  In the New American Standard Bible it is recorded this way:  Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.  Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

My own lust is like that snapping turtle's tongue, luring me in, and like the snapping turtle, once sin gets a grip on me it doesn't let go!  One can't nibble and take a little taste!  That lure may look interesting, but it is attached to something big, ugly, and dangerous!  And when I am caught, I am devoured.

In Psalm 119 the psalmist asks a rhetorical question:  How can a young man keep his way pure?  The answer is obvious, and falls in the next line.  By living according to Your decrees.  Later on the psalmist says, "I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You!"  Sin may look interesting and tasty, but its jaws are horrible and powerful.  With the psalmist I cry out "oh that my ways were steadfast in keeping Your decrees.  Then I would not be ashamed when I look into Your law!"