COMPROMISE

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion, seeking someone
to devour.  (1 Peter 5:8 ESV)






This post was written for Five Minute Friday.
Word prompt--COMPROMISE
Five minutes to write about it

I don't know if the heat has gotten to me or what, but the first thought that popped into mind when I saw this week's prompt, was the fable of the boiling frog. This, in context with two Bible verses--John 14:15, where Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments;" and Romans 12:2, which starts out, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..."

When we receive God's gift of salvation, we become new creations in Christ. The past is washed away, and all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are given a clean slate, and a new standard of living--not to restrict us, but rather to open the door for us to receive God's blessings, and to become the very best that He intended for us to be. 

Sometimes it's hard not to fit in with the crowd, and easy to start making little compromises. After all, what's the big deal about reading that book everyone's talking about? Or going to the movies with friends, even though it's one I wouldn't think of asking Jesus to watch with me. 

It may take a while before giving in to that first little compromise, but then how much easier it becomes to justify the next one, and the next, until our lives are no longer distinguishable from anyone else's in the non-believing world who we're supposed to be setting an example for. How like the unsuspecting frog. 

If you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will hop right out, but as the fable goes, if the water is pleasantly tepid, and you bring it to a boil ever so slowly, the frog won't notice the danger it's in, and will wind up slowly cooked to death.

Just a fable, I know, but also some food for thought.