The Frog 

I looked around me. A tall tree caught my attention. It was dead. It must have been at least 50 years old, standing 30 to 40 feet in the air with large limbs above the 25-foot mark; devoid of any foliage. I had observed Turkey Vultures resting on the upper limbs for a couple of mornings, but I hadn’t paid much attention to it otherwise. But as I stood on the deck looking out today, I noticed that there were trees all around it, thriving and green with leaves covering the branches; with no noticeable dead limbs at all. 

What kills a tree? If there are an abundance of trees around it and the same type, what exactly makes that particular one vulnerable? 

In my woodwork I discovered ‘spaulted woods’. They have been attacked by various kinds of worms and other bugs that drain the sap of its nutrients and slowly kill it. But why ‘that’ tree? 

I couldn’t help but compare this to people and their walk with God or the lack thereof. If we let ourselves get ‘dry’ and lifeless, the ‘worms’ of life crawl in and begin to slowly take the life right out of us and eventually ’kill us’ spiritually, if not physically. Having a vibrant relationship with the one true God keeps us alive. This type of positive setting feeds us spiritual food that is both nourishing and strengthening at the same time. 

When we neglect the spiritual side of our selves the erosion ‘crawls in’ and begins the ‘killing process’. We may not even realize it but before long the effect is devastating. 

I recall the story of the frog. The experiment begins with a frog submerged in a container filled to the brim with cool water. The amphibian sits at ease and enjoys the cool liquid, seemingly without a care in the world. However, once the heat is applied and the water heats up something changes for the frog. However, he doesn’t suddenly jump out of the container; he just sits there allowing the water to get hotter and hotter until the first few bubbles in the water tell us that the temperature is coming up to the boiling point. Does the animal leap out of the water? No, it just sits there. 

Now, I know most of us already know the end to the story. The water boils over and the frog dies, unaware that it could have saved its life by simply jumping out of the ‘hot water’.  

I’m sure the frog must have been uncomfortable to say the least, but still, it stayed in the container and died. 

Aren’t we supposed to be smarter than frogs? I believe so. Then why do so many of us ‘stay in the water’ when all we have to do is ‘move’? It’s astounding how many times I have ‘stayed in the water’ and been ‘burned’. I’m sure none of you know what I’m talking about, (he said, tongue in cheek). Okay. 

We have to feed our ‘roots’. And we have to use the right food. We can’t sit idly by and ‘watch tv’ for the rest of our lives. That ‘slow boiling water’ speaks for itself. What kind of food is that? Is it nutritious or unhealthy for our Spirit man, or just ‘sugar coated’ garbage?  

The war won’t just ‘pass us by’. It will, sooner or later, come to our door and kick it in. The enemy has a plan to eradicate us and take everything we have for themselves. Not unlike what Russia is doing to Ukraine as we speak. The enemy of our souls is as real as the Russian army and far more lethal. Thankfully, there is an answer for this problem; laid out long, long ago in the beginning of time by the Master planer, the Creator. 

We can always be victorious If we follow the “Playbook’. We will always win. I didn’t say we would win every battle, I said we would ultimately win the war for our souls. Of course, the playbook is the Word of God. Cleave to it; embrace it as though all depends on it because it does. Don’t be a stupid frog; fight for your life and win!