As Tempting as Cashews???

At work today I walked by another person's desk to ask them a question I had about work.  They had a can of cashews there, and I have a weakness for cashews....  OK OK OK..... I have a weakness for a lot of snacks....  but a big one for cashews.  In any case, I was offered some, but I declined.  I knew if I would take some, I'd take a lot more.  It's kind of like that old potato chip commercial, "Bet you can't eat just one!"  I can't.

Well, after talking to them for a few minutes, I caved in and took a small handful.  Wait... before you laugh at me, it really was only a small handful.  See, just like you probably are doing right now, the people around me at the office started to laugh.  One of them said, "See....temptation," as she pointed at the cashew jar.

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Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.  (Luke 4:1-2 NIV)

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As I ate my cashews and people joked around, including myself, about the can of cashews being tempting, I thought of Jesus, and his forty days of temptation. 

Think about this.  Jesus was just baptized in the Jordan.  As soon as Jesus was baptized, God spoke and said, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Mark 1:11 (NKJV)  Now Jesus is headed to the wilderness to be tempted for forty days!  Could you imagine this? 

It only took me about 5 minutes, if that, to give in to the temptation of the cashew.  Jesus took the brunt of what Satan had to offer for more than a month.  On top of all the temptation, Jesus had an added thorn of hunger.  If He gave in, we would not have a Savior.  If He would have given in, we would all be condemned to hell. 

So the next time that you believe you just don't have the will power to do something, or not to do something, see the will that Jesus had.   If you want to quit smoking, you can.  If you want to lose weight, you can.  If you are trying to be a Christian walk throughout your lives, you can.  And yes, I need to not eat too many cashews.  Even if that can is right in front of my face. 

Keep thinking of what Jesus went through.  Don't take your temptation lightly.  Jesus didn't. 

Dear Jesus, thank you for not only resisting temptation, but for giving us an example that temptation can be overcome.

Nick Manzie