Pastor Ponderings #181: Never Give Up

Pastor Ponderings #181: *Never Give Up*

I must make a confession to you. In my last pondering I shared the history of a plastic frog that sits prominently on my desk as a reminder of much shared history and a symbol of hope. I was inspired to share that because of an old poem about two frogs that I came across. I had intended to share it in the post last week but after writing all I did, I forgot about it! My apologies.

Well, here is an opportunity for me to make it right and not give up. It reminds me of what the bible says about a righteous person. We can easily confuse a righteous person with a perfect person. The scriptures seem to draw a distinction between righteousness and perfection as indicated here,

Proverbs 24:16 For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

I would like to make two observations. First, we see that what separates the righteous and the wicked is a rising from defeat. A getting up after falling. One could say a resurrection of sorts. Note, however, what follows when the wicked fall – calamity. There is no rising again for the wicked. Their fall destroys rather than strengthens. The wicked do not receive grace and forgiveness through repentance. A Christian is not perfect, only forgiven.

The second thing to note is the resilience of the righteous individual. After three or four attempts, wouldn’t giving up be warranted? The righteous keep on keeping on. They are compelled and propelled by the lavish love of God to exceed the limitations of their surroundings. They respond in obedience to the Spirit’s convicting work and repent. As often as it takes until victory is won and righteousness is developed into godly character, repent and rise again. Let this poem by T. C. Hamlet be a reminder for each of us to never give up!

*Two Frogs in Cream*

Two frogs fell into a can of cream,

Or so I’ve heard it told;

The sides of the can were shiny and steep,

The cream was deep and cold.

“O, what’s the use?” croaked No. 1.

“Tis fate; no help’s around.

Goodbye, my friends! Goodbye, sad world!”

And weeping still, he drowned.

But Number 2, of sterner stuff,

Dog-paddled in surprise,

The while he wiped his creamy face

And dried his creamy eyes.

“I’ll swim awhile, at least,” he said—

Or so I’ve heard he said;

“It really wouldn’t help the world

If one more frog were dead.”

An hour or two he kicked and swam,

Not once he stopped to mutter,

But kicked and kicked and swam and kicked,

Then hopped out, via butter!