Chocolate Is A Sin

Now that I have your attention let me explain.

For years I had been trying to curb my craving for chocolate. It was a driving force causing me to binge like you wouldn’t believe. I could eat a Milky Way, only to hunger for a Snickers, and then came my favorite, the crunch of the Skor bar.

My apologies, if this is causing your mouth to water.

Those were my days. I couldn’t eat just one. And because I’ve always been petite, people were none the wiser about my addiction. Of course God was.

One day I was driving home, negotiating with myself about how could it possibly be God’s will for me to give up something so sweet, that brought me such pleasure. I had convinced myself that since my life hadn’t been so sweet, this was my reward.

But God stopped me dead in my tracks and whispered in His most profound and undeniable voice, “This is your Garden of Eden experience. You can eat everything else I have provided for you, but this one thing you are not to eat.” He didn’t add the, “you shall surely die”, but I was sure it was Him calling for me to chose.

I had to ask myself, what I am giving up to fulfill my urges? Like Esau, giving away his birthright for a bowl of stew; what am I giving away by giving into my appetite?

Last week while I was reading Gary L. Thomas’ Seeking the Face of God, this quote stood out to me, “We can shape our passions… The little decisions we make about how to spend our time and what we eat are really spiritual battles through which our characters are shaped.”

It’s now been three years since my encounter with God and I have consistently chosen obedience to the amazement of so many when I’m offered chocolate and refuse. There reply is always the same, “You’re a woman and you don’t eat chocolate? I could never do that.” I smile inside, knowing that was my attitude. I don’t condemn them in the least because their one thing could be all together different from mine.

Thomas went on to say, “Any spiritual training, then, that neglects the body neglects the one area that really matters.” As well, Thomas paraphrased William Law, training our bodies is essential to building a life of holiness.

Our Enemy is even more cunning than Jacob was with Esau. What is he dangling in front of you to get you to abandon, influence, calling, impact for the Kingdom all because you won’t say no to your cravings?

One last word from Thomas – “The body can be our friend or our foe, depending on whether we master it or it masters us. The ultimate issue for me has been: Will I always give in to my body’s desires, or will I govern my body and decide to give it only what it needs?”