The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die . . . you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4,5
On Thanksgiving weekend, as usual, we had far more food than we needed. I had been eating right though, avoiding sugar for months, so I was not worried. I paid for my arrogance. The puppy chow proved to be my undoing. I stayed strong for a day, then the puppy chow started spewing its lies. Just one bite. You deserve it. No consequences. Be like everyone else.
I knew what would happen if I started, but I caved. Even as I was wiping the powdered sugar off my face, I knew what I had done. Six weeks and 10 pounds later, and I am finally getting my eating back under control. I do not want to be too dramatic about puppy chow, but there is always a price to pay for listening to the voice of temptation. The biggest lie that I tell myself is that there are no consequences.
This was Satan’s approach with Eve. God said you will die? Well that’s a little dramatic. He’s just trying to rob you of pleasure. He doesn’t want you to know what He knows. It looks delicious. Don’t you want to be wise like God? Just a bite. No consequences. You deserve it. The lies are of course, sprinkled with half-truths. Both the fruit and the puppy chow did taste delicious.
That Satan’s voice sounds a lot like the puppy chow, is a little terrifying. It is of course, not the puppy chow’s voice, but the voice of my flesh nature. Even more terrifying to me, is how wrong I was in thinking I was immune to the puppy chow. The only immunity from my flesh nature though, is in making a daily effort to deny self and follow Christ.
When I follow my flesh, I do find immediate gratification, but then I am left with the consequences. Eve did not physically die immediately, but she did create quite a disaster. I’m still dealing with my puppy chow lies.