Not everything that is appealing at first glance will give you eternal joy if you care to look beyond what you see now.
It is true that in every ugly situation there are hidden treasures waiting for someone who is ready to take the risk to discover the hidden treasures. So also things that pose greatest threats in life are always clothe in gold and very appealing apparel. I came across this illustration sometimes ago and l will like to share it on this platform. If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately attempt to scramble out for safety. Place the same frog in water at room temperature; do not scare it, it will stay put. But if the pot sits on a heat source, and if you gradually turn up the temperature, something very interesting will happen. As the temperature rises, initially the frog will do nothing. In fact, it will show every sign of enjoying itself. As the temperature gradually increases, the frog will begin to feel uncomfortable and getting weaker, until the frog is unable to climb out of the pot. Though there is nothing restraining the frog, it will sit there and boil, perhaps to death. Why? The frog’s internal apparatus for sensing threats to survival is geared to sudden changes in its environment; not to slow, subtle and gradual changes.
This is also applicable to man. That is how many are caught unaware in the voyage of life. What causes regrettable events in life are often embedded in pleasures so that the potential victims will hardly notice it. We become prey to destructive events when we are enjoying the pleasures life offers. Adam and Even lost eternal joy because of disobedience Genesis 3:9-19, “9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Rueben lost all the blessings accrued to him as a first son because of some minutes of pleasure Genesis 49:3-4, “3Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 4Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.”
What brought Samson from grace to grass was coated in his lust for strange women. King Solomon was blessed with wisdom and understanding heart in I King 3:12, “Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.” His fame spread across the nations of the earth. But Solomon lost everything because he loved many foreign women as well as the daughter of Pharaoh. His heart was turned after other gods I King 11:1-4, “1But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; 2Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 4For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
Not everything that is appealing at first glance will give you eternal joy if you care to look beyond what you see now.