Deceptive Fruit

Have you ever walked into a restaurant where they displayed all of the decadent desserts right at the entrance?  Cakes twice or even three times higher than "normal"; cheesecakes that rivaled whole cheese wheels; chocolate tortes that literally were dripping chocolate?  Your mouth begins watering for dessert even before you look at the dinner menu.  Throughout the dinner, you cannot help but think about the dessert that is awaiting you.  Finally the waiter asks if you want dessert and no matter what your stomach is saying, your mind has been made up and you order.  A few bites into the mammoth slice of cake, an argument has begun inside your body.  "Really?????  You had to put more inside me???  Really???? Are you nuts????"

Sometimes the temptation is so sweet that we fail to think through the circumstances fully.  Have you ever heard (or said yourself), "I know I'll pay for this tomorrow but I just cannot help myself!"  Think about this description of the temptation in the Garden of Eden from Max Lucado's book, Six Hours One Friday: It came camouflaged.  It came in a golden goblet with a long stem.  It was in the flavor of fruit.  It came, not in the hands of a king, but the hands of a prince - the prince of the shadows........"Taste it", he whispered, holding the goblet before her.  "It's sweet with wisdom."  We all know the consequences of Eve's choice.  But do we realize that each and every day, the prince of the shadows is looking for ways to tempt us as well? 

Recently our pastor presented us with a visual that was very powerful.  In discussing the lost intimacy with the Lord that pervades our world today, he presented each of us with an apple.  This normal piece of fruit was symbolic of what was lost in the kingdom by the choice of taking a single bite. We were challenged to take the apple home and allow it to be symbolic of that which we would choose over God ~ and not eat this particular apple. Immediately the Lord gave me a further visual.  If we allow the apple to sit untouched, over time it would become dry and shriveled and would lose its appeal.  The very same is true of those things which would draw us away from our Lord.

It is a truth from the Word of God that we will face trials and temptations.  Jesus Himself warned us in Luke 17:1 One day Jesus said to his disciples, "There will always be temptations to sin, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting. Temptations are not only part of our walk, but part of our training ground.  1 Corinthians 10:13 But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.  Note that in this verse there are two "you's".  This means that we have a role in this process.  God's role is twofold: first he will monitor the intensity of the temptation and second he will provide a way out for us.  Now look at our responsibility.  We have to "stand up against it" and then we have to hold out and not give in.  This is where our free will comes in and our understanding that we have consequences to the choices we make.

Let's go back to the dessert analogy for a moment.  There sits a simply delectable piece of cake.  You know that once it enters your body the internal battle will begin against the sugars, fats, indigestible white flour, etc.  Yet you also just know how incredibly awesome that will taste in your mouth before it hits the rest of your body.  Now imagine that you stand against that temptation for today and just leave it sitting on your counter (uncovered of course! :-) ).  Tomorrow you check it out again and are tempted.  You know it has dried out some, but it still looks pretty good.  You withstand again.  You battle daily as you gaze at this slice of cake and slowly it begins to lose its outward attractiveness.  Within a few weeks, the decay becomes real and now it is not only unappealing, but slowly it is becoming repulsive.  Eventually you throw it out because the smell and the sight of it are actually making you nauseous.

So it should be with the temptations of our lives.  If we will just rely on the strength that God is providing us and if we will actively seek the way out that He is providing for us, we will be able to stand against the temptations.  The key is to know where to focus our attention in the midst of the temptation.  Psalm 25:15 My eyes are always looking to the LORD for help, for he alone can rescue me from the traps of my enemies.  No matter what is happening in the circumstances of our lives, the Lord wants us to keep our eyes ever turned to Him.  He alone is our help and our direction.  His promises are real and steadfast.  However, He expects us to do our part in turning away from the temptations of life whether they are physical, emotional or mental temptations.  We must believe that His Word will not return void.  If He said it, He'll do it, or in another more commonly quoted expression, "If He brought you to it, He'll bring you through it."  No matter how tempting that "fruit" is, I choose my God.  How about you?  Selah.