The Tar Baby

    In a folk tale by Joel Chandler Harris, Brer Fox made a tar baby as a trap for Brer Rabbit. As Brer Rabbit sauntered by the log where it had been placed, Brer Rabbit said "Good Mornin'," but there was no reply. He greeted the mute stranger for the second time and still there was no response. Brer Rabbit then became offended and angry.

    "I'm going to teach you how to talk to respectable folks if it's my last act," says Brer Rabbit, says he. "If you don't take off that hat and say howdy, I'm going to bust you wide open," says he.

    "Tar-Baby stayed still and Brer Fox, he lay low.

    "Brer Rabbit kept on asking her why she wouldn't talk and the Tar-Baby kept on saying nothing until Brer Rabbit finally drew back his fist, he did, and blip--he hit the Tar-Baby on the jaw. But his fist stuck and he couldn't pull it loose. The tar held him. But Tar-Baby, she stayed still, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

    "If you don't let me loose, I'm going to hit you again," says Brer Rabbit, says he, and with that he drew back his other fist and blap--he hit the Tar-Baby with the other hand and that one stuck fast too.

    Tar-Baby she stayed still, and Brer Fox, he lay low.

    "Turn me loose, before I kick the natural stuffing out of you," says Brer Rabbit, says he, but the Tar-Baby just sat there.

    "She just held on and then Brer Rabbit jumped her with both his feet. Brer Fox, he lay low. Then Brer Rabbit yelled out that if that Tar-Baby didn't turn him loose, he was going to butt her crank-sided. Then he butted her and his head got stuck.

    "Brer Box walked out from behind the bushes and strolled over to Brer Rabbit, looking as innocent as a mockingbird."

    The fox seemed to know the rabbit's weakness and set his trap accordingly. It looked as if he was going to become the main ingredient in Brer Fox's rabbit stew. But in the end, Brer Rabbit outwitted the fox by convincing him to throw him in the brier patch.

    The Bible says that we have an enemy also. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." In a manner of speaking this enemy sets up "tar babies" for us, to lure us into behavior that, once we yield to it, we are stuck. The more we wrestle to try to free ourselves from it, the more we are entangled in it (See Romans 6:16).

I don't know which particular tar baby the enemy has been using to try to ensnare you, but perhaps you do. The Bible says that there is a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). You will find this way of escape in Jesus Christ.

Copyright Daphne Harrington 2000