The wolf

In Alaska/Canada, they used to hunt wolves. They found a method that worked every time and was very easy to set up.

The hunter would take a knife or razor blade with frozen blood on it. He would take the blade, set it firmly in the ground and leave. The wolf comes to the blade because he can smells the blood. He then starts licking the knife trying to get the blood off. As he is licking the blade, the ice numbs the wolf’s tongue; he can’t feel anything.

As the wolf licks the blood off, the blade cuts the wolf’s tongue, but since his tongue is numb, he can’t feel the cut. He tastes blood from the cut, and keeps licking, trying to get more blood from the knife. The knife continues to cut him and he keeps licking off the blood. Finally, he bleeds to death.

This story is a picture of sin.

At first, sin seems harmless.

“Just try a bit. Just test it. One try wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
So you try it; you taste it, and it tastes good. You try it again, and it still tastes good. So you do it again and again, not knowing that it is numbing it. You are numb to your guilt, God’s voice, and better judgment. You become so numb you don’t even realize the sin is hurting it. Slowly, it sucks the life from you, so slowly you don’t realize it is happening. You get use to it, as if it was normal. Slowly, the sin kills you.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:23 (NIV)