Bishop Dag Heward Mills
Snakes are masters at operating by the senses! Like any professional assassin, a viper comes equipped with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry and extremely sensitive detection equipment. The eyes of snakes are particularly good at detecting movement.
They have special sound detectors. Rather than hearing sounds as we do, snakes pick up vibrations from the skin around their jaws.
Their senses seem to operate at the highest, given their obvious handicaps.
Pit Vipers are named after their specialized thermo receptors; heat-sensitive organs, located on either side of the head that look like small pits.
These pits contain membranes sensitive to infrared radiation and allow the snakes to locate their prey based on temperature differences within their environment.
A snake’s tongue is also used to sense its surroundings. Snakes smell by using their forked tongues to collect airborne particles. The fork in the tongue gives the snake a sort of, ‘directional sense of smell.’
Snakes have no ears or movable eyelids. They do not hear airborne sound waves, but can perceive low-frequency vibrations transmitted from the ground to the bones of their skulls.
When a viper rests its jaw on the ground, any vibrations on the ground are amplified enormously. A snake can detect even the impact of a mouse’s feet on sand. When a mouse moves within 15cm of the snake’s head, a snake is bound to know that a prey is within striking range.
All these facts reveal a creature that is very sensitive, perceiving all sorts of sensations and taking decisions based on them. Few creatures are so sensitive and accurate with what they perceive.
We can learn a lot from this wisdom and begin to use our senses like God expects us to. Perhaps, we would live longer and achieve more if we were more perspicacious and sensitive.
You will be a good leader when you employ all your senses like the snake does. Some things can only be detected by the senses. As a good leader, you ought to use this ability of operating by the senses to help you succeed in your work.
Begin to Operate by the Senses
1.Begin to sense when people don’t have faith in you.
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
Matthew 16:7-8
You must be sensitive to the faith or doubts of your disciples. Not everyone believes in everything you are saying and doing. Sometimes, I sense a lack of confidence coming from certain individuals.
As a good leader, you must recognize the different levels of confidence in the people around you. You must not be deluded about how much you are loved and how much you are trusted.
You must think maturely, sensing doubt when there is doubt and sensing fear when there is fear!
2.Begin to sense when there are wicked people around.
Jesus Christ sensed the wickedness of the people around Him. Never think that everybody loves you. Many people have wicked intentions. There are many wicked people who pretend to be interested in you! They may seek to interview you and find out more about the Bible.
These people who were interviewing Jesus were actually asking theological questions. But they hated Jesus Christ and were only interested in finding fault with Him.
Jesus was as wise as a serpent. He sensed the wickedness of his interviewers. Are you as wise as a serpent? Are your senses exercised to discern both good and evil? Be as wise as a serpent and begin to notice the wickedness in apparently friendly people.
Tell us therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But JESUS PERCEIVED THEIR WICKEDNESS, AND SAID, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money.
And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
Matthew 22:17-21
Snakes are marvellous creatures that live and move on the ground without the privilege of standing up to see what is happening around them.
Yet, without the privilege of seeing what we see and hearing what we hear, and communicating like we do, they are able to live, eat, drink and avoid danger.
How are they able to flourish where no other animal flourishes? How do such handicapped creatures succeed where no other animal succeeds? They do so when they operate by the senses!