What Do You Do When Your Monitor Lizard Gets Loose?
Neal Pollard Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 2:53PM 
(Not Dino or His Owner)
Neal Pollard
OK, so you’ve probably not spent a whole lot of time pondering that as a practical quandary in your life. I’ve never met anyone who owns a pet monitor lizard. But, in Woodland Park and not all that far from us in Denver, a six foot Nile monitor lizard–lovingly called Dino–escaped from his owner and is now on the loose! Teller County sheriff, Mike Ensminger, is warning area residents to lock up their cats, small dogs, and to keep an eye on their small children. They can be very hostile, have very sharp claws and strong jaws, and as they are not native to Colorado may get pretty agitated looking for that next meal. You might want to look carefully under your bed and look under your stairs until this thing is captured.
I have not heard from the “pet’s” owner, but there must be some level of concern. He left Dino on a leash, certainly never thinking that it could wiggle (or gnaw?) itself free. But, that’s what happened.
Have you ever experienced something in your life that got away from you, moved beyond your control, and turned potentially harmful. Maybe it was a word or conversation that you later regretted. Perhaps it was a foolish decision, an unwise purchase or investment, a toxic relationship, or impulsive choice. It could be any number of things, but it is certainly not amusing! It can be damaging and destructive.
Many of you may be saying, “This wouldn’t have happened if this guy had never made a monitor lizard his pet.” That’s frankly my basic response. While lizard-lovers will castigate me for saying so, all of us will agree on this. The best way to avoid the devastating consequences of rash, volatile decisions is to think through it. Galatians 6:7-8 reminds us that, positively and negatively, we reap what we sow. My dad told us, “Many people sow their wild oats, then pray for a crop failure!” The only proven way I know to keep from bad fruit is to never plant “bad fruit seeds” in the first place.
The logic for lizard-leashing is more sound than the rational for religious rebellion. Mistakes will happen. Let’s avoid those that wage war against the soul (cf. 1 Pet. 2:11).