The Lonely Frog

by John Gaines

A lonely frog telephoned the Psychic Hotline and asked what his future holds. His Personal Psychic Advisor tells him, “You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you.”

The frog is thrilled, “This is great!” “Will I meet her at a party?” he croaks.

“No,” says the psychic, “in biology class.”

There’s a simple moral to this story – things are not always what they seem. Things that seem to be great and wonderful often have a way of turning out to be considerably less than what we expected. Sometimes the result is disappointment. Sometimes it is danger. In the frog’s case, it turned out to be dissection.

The allure of the world is often like that for immature Christians. Satan’s basic temptation techniques involve our lack of self-control over our wants – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life to use the terminology of I John 2:16.

Eve fell for the devil’s deception when she ate the forbidden fruit in Eden. It looked good. It would taste good. It would make her wise. So she thought! Unfortunately, what had appeared so attractive and desirable turned out tot be the greatest mistake any human being ever made.

Things are not always what they seem! May we grow in our faith and maturity to have the discernment to see our life choices for what they really are (Hebrews 5:14).

For Further Study

Verses to Consider

  • Genesis 3:6
  • Proverbs 6:12-15
  • Proverbs 9:17
  • Mark 13:5
  • John 8:44-45
  • Romans 16:18
  • II Corinthians 2:10-11
  • II Corinthians 4:1-4
  • II Corinthians 11:2-4,13-15,19-20
  • Ephesians 4:11-14
  • Ephesians 6:11
  • II Thessalonians 2:8-12
  • I Timothy 2:14
  • Hebrews 3:13
  • I Peter 2:18-19
  • Revelation 12:9

Questions to Ponder

  1. I John 2:16 lists the three avenues Satan uses to make sin appear appealing. These same avenues are used by advertisers to make their products appealing. Use a magazine and clip ads that illustrate each of the three avenues of appeal.
  2. What avenues did Satan use to tempt Eve?
  3. Identify the avenues Satan used to tempt Jesus? Was there an avenue for temptations that we face that Jesus did not face (Hebrews 4:15)?
  4. How can we defeat the deceptions of Satan?
  5. Why is sin so appealing?
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