Daily Power #20

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

Recently my wife, Amy, brought home a massive bag of M&M’s. You know, the size of bag that looks like it belongs in the barn to feed grain to animals. The kind of bag you could use to do arm curls. I was intrigued because Amy almost never brings unhealthy food into our house. And I’m still not sure why she brought home this mega bag of chocolate delight that melts in your mouth but not in your hand, but I didn’t question it.

I was secretly glad. Would it really be my fault if I were to eat one or two—pounds—of them? I didn’t buy them in the industrial size. I just happened to open the kitchen cupboard one day, and there they were, emitting a multicolored aura and whispering my name.

And since the bag was already open, I decided I could just be a help to Amy and a role model for the kids and show them what moderation looks like. I’ll just have a few.

Twenty minutes later, Amy came into kitchen to discover that I’d eaten a significant portion of the bag.

What’s not so cool is that I knew what I was doing and had no one to blame but myself. If she hadn’t stopped me, I could have eaten the whole bag. We all have our weaknesses, but the key to growing stronger is using our knowledge of them to protect ourselves. We are only as strong as we are honest. To resist those things that tempt us most, we must acknowledge where we are vulnerable and submit ourselves to God.

Power Lift

Lord, I surrender my heart and my will to you today. Give me strength to overcome the temptations I may face and to resist the Enemy’s snares.