So you got to meet so-and-so's dad and mom and spend the weekend with them. Everytime we attended I came away better off than before I went. I always learned or gained something from the older folks. They were always gracious and kind to us, even though we were attending a different church in a different city.

One day as we were walking along one of the meadow roads leading into Tall Timber Camp, it was overcast and rainy. I was walking behind my family, watching Carol and the kids explore the edges of the road ahead of me. I happened to look down and saw this frog right in the track of the road, where the tires passed.

At first I wasn't sure what I was looking at because he was all muddy and pressed flat into the road bed. Then I saw that it was indeed a frog and that he had come to a bad end. Perhaps it was quick but it probably wasn't what he would have chosen if he could have had a choice.

I bent over and took the picture and here it is, the evidence of his violent ending. It is not pretty or edifying to be sure.

So why did I take it, why do I keep it and why do I display such a wretched photo?

It would be nice to say that I had some great and meaningful reason other than simply trying to get a gross-out photo to show or shock people but I think that would be untrue. At the time, I was rather grossed out by this and thought it would serve to gross out others. That's pretty base, I will agree.

But as the years have passed and now I am much older I have had the opportunity to discard this photo and move on. But I haven't. So now why am I keeping it?

I think this photo serves to remind me that the world is not my or your friend. The Bible says that it is hostile to Christians and that we should not forget that "friendship with the world is enmity with God." We need to understand that the "world", used as I use it, is anything which hates God and His Christ. It is the sin which dwells within our hearts and which seeks to kill us whenever it has an opportunity.

Jesus came and died to reclaim and save mankind from sin (death). Yet, it is common for people to reject or misunderstand the good news message of the Gospel and die in their sin, only to face a Godless eternity of damnation. Americans hate for people to talk about judgment, sin, damnation and condemnation, but they are in the Bible. The wrath of God towards those who reject Him by rejecting His Son, Jesus Christ, is clearly stated in Scripture, and selectively reading or teaching around the issue will not make it go away.

This frog had no thoughts like you or me. He was just being a frog, doing whatever frogs do to survive. One day, he hopped out from the edge of the road to sit in the middle of a tire track. A vehicle many times larger than himself came along in a moment and smashed him. Many folks live their lives in the same manner as this frog. They just do what people do. Along comes death, destruction or tragedy and they are undone, just like this frog, without even time to think about it.

In Genesis, we have the story of the great flood and the preservation of Noah and his family. It took one hundred years to build the ark and those who lived there had plenty of time to think about what Noah was doing and change their ways. They did not change and they perished. It will be the same for many of us today.

So the frog stays up. I look at it every now and then to remind myself that life is perilous and fleeting and that we need to redeem the time while we can.