It had been a wonderful day. I had been hounded by temptation all day, but with God’s help, I had overcome anger, despair, discouragement, self-pity, and disappointment. I had even overcome my brooding nature for more than 3 hours!

Then a new thought occurred to me. Why not celebrate my victory over temptation by having a little piece of carrot cake? After all, eating carrot cake isn’t wrong! So I had a piece, and it was sooo good. Why not have another? And another, and another, and another?

Then a funny thing happened. After my little “snack”, I was no longer able to fight off temptation! The anger, depression, despair, discouragement, and self-pity that I had conquered all day washed over me like a flood, rendering me completely helpless. “Where are you, God?” I cried, and in an instant, I found myself standing in the middle of the most beautiful garden I had ever seen.

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden,” called a voice from among the trees, “but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

The Garden of Eden! I looked up, and just in front of me was a giant Carrot Cake. My eyes widened in astonishment as ice cream and candy, cookies and pie appeared on the top. Then I slowly began to understand. My “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” was intemperance! When I overindulge myself in the smallest way, I provide the “crack” that the devil and his forces need to overcome me, to rob me of God’s Spirit, to doom me to failure.

We each have our own “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”—our own area of personal weakness. No matter how innocent or trivial it may seem, once we give in even “just a little”, we are allowing the enemy to take free reign of our hearts. Is it any wonder that Paul admonishes us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1)?

Lyn Chaffart