Don’t Be Like the Frog

I have told the story of the frog that boiled to death before, but in the times we are living in, I think it bears repeating. There once was a frog that fell into a container of water. Now frogs love water, so he decided to just make himself comfortable and not worry about getting out.  Well, someone came along and set a fire under the pot, but since he was on the inside of the pot and couldn’t see them, he didn’t realize anything had happened until it was too late.  If the water had been hot when he fell in, he would have jumped right out; but it was a comfortable temperature so he just kept right on swimming. Before long he felt it getting warmer  and soon his legs wouldn’t work right and he felt himself begin to sink. By the time he understood the danger he was in, it was too late, he had been cooked and served for dinner.

Believe it or not, we are a lot like that frog.  We get ourselves into trouble and don’t even realize it at first.  We start watching a movie or TV show that has questionable language or content, but we figure, we’re adults, we can handle it. Or, we start playing video games that are violent and before we know it, we need even more violence to make it exciting. Maybe an image comes across the TV or computer screen of nudity or sexual content and we figure just once won’t hurt us, but the more you allow these sexual images or bad language into your mind the more of a hold it gets on you and before you know it, it doesn’t bother you anymore to see nudity, men kissing men, women kissing women or couples engaged in sexual activities. And, you even let a bad word slip out occasionally.  The more we are subjected to these things, the more desensitized we become.  The more like the world we become; and just like to frog, before we realize what is happening we are spiritually dead.

Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:43, “If the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.”  No one sets out to sin, but remember “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14).  He makes sin look very attractive and appealing, that is why Jesus also told us to, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).

So my friend, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Pet. 5:8-9).