When the devil thought that he had killed Jesus Christ, the innocent Son of God who “committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth,” (1 Peter 2:22) he successfully paved the way for God to exalt His Son and give Him a name that is above every name! (Philippians 2:6-11)
God is shrewd and crafty when He deals with evil. (2 Samuel 22:26-27, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
“Indirect and deceitful” methods made tools which looked like “bread-sticks” but in fact were heavenly machine guns loaded with lots of “dynamites” that brought eternal life to many but eternal calamities and disaster to the kingdom of darkness.
So, we too are called to:
“- – – be therefore crafty as snakes and innocent as doves.”
Yeah, this is a quote from the Bible, (Matthew 10:16) and it is Jesus who is saying this to His disciples as He sends them to preach the Gospel.
He doesn’t say, “Be ignorant” or “naïve” like doves because doves are neither ignorant nor naive, instead it says be innocent like doves because God never blesses ignorance and naivety! Never!
My favorite definition of “innocent” is: “not responsible for or directly involved in an event yet suffering its consequences.” (Think of the Cross of Jesus Christ)
Not guilty of an event, didn’t cause the event directly or indirectly but still “suffering its consequences!
Wow!
And the definition of “crafty” is: “adept (means, expert or proficient) in the use of subtlety and cunning.”
Here is another definition of crafty, my favorite one: “- – – clever at achieving one’s aims by indirect or deceitful methods”
Hmm!
So, are you a dove? Are you crafty?
Remember: You have to first be innocent like doves before you become crafty like snakes because if craftiness shows up first before innocence, it makes you look and act like wolves, not like doves. (Matthew 10:16).
Ugh! What a strong contrast between a wolf and a dove!
Easy to identify between them, easy like saying “1, 2, 3.” ///