Boiled Frogs

Read: 1 John 2:15-17


And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.                                                                               1 John 2:17


     Although I’m not sure why anyone would particularly want to boil a live frog, most people are familiar with how to do it. If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump out as quickly as he is thrown in.  However, if you put him in a pot of cool water, he will be perfectly comfortable. Then put the pot on the stove over a low flame, and, little by little, the water gets warm. It is very pleasant at first, and he enjoys the comforts of a froggy hot tub. But finally, when the water is boiling, it is too late for him to escape, and he melts into froggy soup.

     A boiling frog is a perfect illustration of the way young men fall as prey into the hands of Satan. Their upbringing scolds headlong dives into sin, so they avoid making the drastic changes at first. They start off slowly. They allow a little slide in their music standards here and a little relaxing on what they believe about dress standards there. Though they avoid the big sins, they start to hang around with the crowd that is doing those things. As they become more familiar and comfortable around those things, they begin to participate themselves. They wade deeper and deeper into sin until they find themselves over their heads in hot water with no escape. A few bubbles slipping to the surface is all that can be heard of the cry from the lips of a life that could have been very useful to God.

     The way to avoid all of the heartache is to avoid letting any little sin get a foothold in your life. You must quench the small hints of rebellion; you must quell the threats of dishonesty; and you must annihilate any thoughts of pride. If you will treat event the smallest sins in the same way that a frog treats the boiling water that it is first thrown into, then it will be almost impossible to get taken in by the threats of Satan. If you allow yourself to become comfortable with the sins that you feel are no big deal, before long, you will be treating the “big” sins as if they are no big deal as well. To avoid the hot water, you must completely avoid the pot altogether. Satan would love to slowly watch your spiritual life slip away. Avoid him, and you will never give him the satisfaction of seeing his dreams fulfilled.

Quote of the day: “The chains of sin are too light to be felt until they are so strong you cannot break them.”