Chocolate cake
A certain girl had eaten too much over the festival of Christmas and was thus on a calorie restrictive diet. One day her mother came to her and said, ‘Verily, I am departing to the megamall. Behold, in yonder kitchen is a chocolate cake which thou must not touch; for it is full of calories and bad for you’.
The girl heeded these words and departed to her upper chamber to partake of some homework.
However, the girl could not stop thinking about the chocolate cake. She tried to concentrate on her homework but, alas, she failed and decided to quench her thirst from the kitchen tap.
Therefore, she took her cup and journeyed to the kitchen. But having drunk her fill, she noticed the cake of chocolate.
I shall not make you fat
Suddenly, she heard a voice saying, ‘Take and eat, for I am full of goodness and reviving for the soul’. The girl was amazed, for the voice came from the chocolate cake.
Remembering the words of her mother she rebuked the cake, saying, ‘Thou knowest I am on a calorie counting diet; why therefore dost thou tempt me? I shall not eat from you; you shall make me fat’. The girl thus turned on her heel to return to her chamber.
‘I shall not make you fat, for I am not as calorie ridden as the triple chocolate gateaux. Yes, if you eat all of me thou shalt gain pounds, but simply lick me and thou shalt not gain an ounce’.
The girl heard these words and was angered with her mother, for she knew that a lick of the chocolate cake would not harm her diet. She saw that the cake was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes. Thus, the girl took from the icing and ate, and tasted the chocolate and saw that it was very yummy.
Having tasted the icing, the girl desired not to leave the cake, for it was pleasing to the flesh. Seeing this, therefore, the cake said, ‘Take and eat; your mother will not know’.
The girl replied, ‘It saith in the Weight Watchers handbook: “a second on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”. I will not eat from you’. But, alas, she hungered for more and struggled to resist its advances.
Wanting more
Thus the girl found a blade, and cutting a small piece from the cake, took and ate it. The cake was even more appetising than the icing, so the girl acquired another piece and ate it too.
Whilst she was eating, the cake made loud proclamations, saying, ‘I am good, I am enjoyable, and you need me for your food’. She ate and ate, and found she wanted more – and so continued to fill her stomach with the chocolate goo.
However, observing the plate on which the cake once stood, she exclaimed, ‘Alas, I have consumed all the cake!’ And fearing her mother, she hid herself.
When her mother returned and saw that the cake had vanished, she said to her daughter, ‘Hast thou eaten from the cake which I commanded you not to eat?’ The daughter said, ‘The cake deceived me and I ate’.
The mother scolded and rebuked her, and said, ‘Couldst thou not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray that thou enterest not into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Thou shalt reap the consequence of thy folly’.
Truly, in the course of time, the girl became severely ill and gained two extra pounds. She remembered her mother’s words and wept bitterly.
Resisting temptation
OK, OK – so maybe chocolate cake isn’t your problem. But the principle remains, whatever your temptations may be – whether dodgy relationships, pride, alcohol, gluttony or even not using your time correctly. We can all learn from the parable of the chocolate cake.
Listen to God; he knows what he’s talking about. If God’s Word tells you not to do something, don’t do it. He doesn’t make rules because he’s mean but because he knows and wants what’s best for you.
If she hadn’t gone to the kitchen, she wouldn’t have eaten the cake. Don’t go places where you know there will be temptation. She went to the kitchen for a glass of water and there’s nothing wrong with water. But she was walking straight into temptation. Don’t stray into the danger zone – you’re open for attack.
Satan deceives. Jesus called Satan the father of lies. He makes things sound OK when they really aren’t. Like the cake having fewer calories than the triple chocolate gateaux. Probably true, but that didn’t make it any less bad for the girl. Satan may tell you that there are worse sins than yours, but in God’s eyes sin is sin – and all sin offends him equally.
One lick and you want more. Take one ‘lick’ at your temptation and you’ll be craving for more, unless you repent. Don’t even take a lick or you may regret it!
You will face consequences.Just like the girl, you will face consequences if you give in to temptation – so say ‘no’ up front.
Escaping temptation
We cannot resist temptation in our own strength, because even as Christians we still have the old nature within us – alongside the new nature that God gives us when we are born again.
However, we also have a Father in heaven who, by his Holy Spirit, gives us the strength and determination to resist temptation. ‘No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted he will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it’ (1 Corinthians 10:13).
So this is what we must do! We must watch and pray – and ‘lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and … run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Becca Dresner
