Camouflaged

When out for my morning walk, I pass a section that is overgrown with Sumac bushes. They have become so overgrown that it is hard to use the sidewalk. Even the sidewalk plows have been forced onto the grass and have left big ruts making it even harder to walk. Then one morning I didn't realize that I was walking along the path unhindered until I sensed some deep shadow on my right side! I didn't think that I was sleepwalking but then it struck me! The Sumacs were cut back drastically from the sidewalk, and what was left was an eerie shadow! The city had finally done something!
As the fog cleared from my stupor something moved in what was now the cleared area next to the sidewalk. Amid all the detritus from the clearing of the brush, suddenly popped up a young rabbit! I couldn't see him because he was so well camouflaged by his coat amid the wood chips. If he had stayed still, I would have passed him and not have seen him. Actually, over the summer, I have seen him a few times and he has become used to seeing me.
Camouflage is a fascinating concept in the wild because it works both ways. Many animals have a defensive camouflage system that makes it difficult to spot them while at the same time many hunters also have the ability to blend in with their environment. John Vaillant in his excellent book “The Tiger,” chronicles the search for a true man-eating tiger in Siberian Russia. He describes in detail the habitat and behaviour of these animals and the people who share this inhospitable land. He recounts hunters saying that when you see a tiger, he has seen you a hundred times! An animal the size of a compact car can blend in with his surroundings.
In the life of the church, this principle of how to camouflage or better still spot the thing camouflaged is as old as the church itself. In fact, it even goes right back to the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were fooled by the serpent. However, from Paul's writings, as well as the other apostles, this has been an issue since the earliest days of the church. And no less so today with the proliferation of those who would seek to devour those who are unaware of their false teaching. In Galatians, Paul warns against “false brothers secretly brought in – who slipped in to spy out our freedom” Gal. 2:4 (ESV). Jude also warns “for certain people have crept in unnoticed ... who pervert the grace of God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” Jude 4 (ESV). Then there is that classic passage where Paul exhorts “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” Eph. 6:11(ESV). I think that one of the most underrated passages is in Col 2 where Paul says, “see to it that no one takes you captive” and then he goes on to develop a theology of the Christian life that in a practical sense is a game plan on how to survive in a world constantly set on destroying you.
The hunters (spoiler alert!) finally track down and kill the tiger. It was a harrowing ordeal for the men who finally succeeded. This was an exceptional animal, but he had to  be stopped. I was amazed when I lived out west at how adaptable animals were in the bush. Moose, elk, deer, bear somehow disappeared. In the Christian world predators can likewise disappear and camouflage their presence among us if we are not careful and prepared with God's Word.