On the ice-capped highlands, when the ground is smothered by a thick blanket of snow, the hunger-driven wolves have to search every corner for their prey. This is the very season when hunters find it easiest to trap wolves, without wasting a bullet. Their modus operandi is to find a clearing of solid ground, in which they fix a double-edged sword with its point upward. Hunters carefully paint the blades with animal blood, leaving the hilt clean.
With an acute sense of smell and a lust for blood, a hungry wolf approaches to the sword. Finding himself unable to crush the target with his sharp teeth, the wolf carefully attempts to lick the blood painted on the blade. Despite his prudence, the wolf still cuts his tongue of the blade. The sharpness of the edge results in only a little pain and the lust for blood drives the wolf to go on. The bleeding wound leaves more blood on the blade causing the wolf to linger. When he finishes one side of the blade, he finds yet more blood on the other side. Not realizing it is actually from his own tongue, the wolf continues the same action again and again.
The next day, the wolf is found dead on the ground near the sword, due to loss of blood. The one who carves for blood dies in his pursuit of blood, what an irony!
Silly as this scenario seems, I find myself unable to laugh. Don’t we humans resemble this poor creature? The greed within our soul drives us to snatch for more. The more we taste the greater the thirst becomes. The sensation of blood blinds our eyes, shuts our ears, and dulls our rationality, causing us to ignore the danger before us. Life drains away during the pursuit of our endless desires, extinguished before we even realize it.
Facing the blade, am I thirsty for blood? Are you?
Philippians 3:8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ