Pretty Poison

Yesterday I posted about a visit my family recently made to the Mystic Aquarium. I shared about how we learned a lot about marine life but also learned some lessons about life itself. I wanted to share another life lesson in today's post.

As we toured the aquarium we saw all kinds of interesting creatures. One wall was filled with small glass boxes that contained the prettiest frogs we had ever scene. Not being very knowledgeable about frogs, we read the various signs by each case to learn about each kind of frog.

We were amazed when we got to one particular case, pictured

to the right, and learned that these extremely pretty frogs were actually poisonous. Whoever heard of poisonous frogs! The poison in these frogs is so strong that indigenous people used the poison on darts to kill their enemies.

What a powerful lesson to learn in life, that just because something is pretty does not make it safe. In fact, beauty can be deceptive, even dangerous. Far too often we are taken in by a person with a charming personality, only to be taken advantage of later. Far too often we get sucked up in a movie, or some other type of entertainment, that has great graphics or cool special efforts, but a poisonous message. It is easy to think that buying a certain type of product, or joining a particular club or group, will make life easier, only to find out later that it takes up far more of our time or money than we intended.

As Christians we must constantly be on our guard for the things that look pretty on the outside, but are poisonous on the inside. Recall the "fun adventures" of the Prodigal Son. But when he had spent all he had, he longed to eat pig slop. Recall David's one night of indiscretion that led to years of pain for his family. There is always pleasure in sin for a season, but then comes destruction. We must not be fooled by how pretty things are, but we must keep our eyes and focus on Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith.



To read more devotionals written by Dr. Terry Dorsett, consider the book Touching the Footprints of Jesus.