Temptation (post 2) -- Eat the Sweet

Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit. Proverbs 25:6

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of this Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:15,16

Real temptation is like this. It involves something that we both need and enjoy. Adam and Eve were not tested with three-day-old gruel! Eve saw that “the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise.” Genesis 3:6 Similarly, Jesus was tempted with bread at the end of 40 days of fasting.

Food both sustains and is a delight. It is a blatant testimony of God’s goodness. We are not just sustained; we are provided with a feast beyond our wildest imaginations. But is the goodness of God our downfall?

In 1 John, we are told not to love the world or its things. In verse 17, we are given the reason. These things are passing away but the will of God endures forever. In this manner Jesus resisted the temptation of Satan in the desert. [Jesus] answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

When temptation for something sweet arises, we must begin by acknowledging the source of this good thing. Only in humble thankfulness will we be able to eat enough for permanence and not too much for vomiting.