Stop. Sniff. Stop again. Sniff
again. Caught.
We call our little Chihuahua-terrier
mix our cordless dust buster. Wherever we sit to eat, she positions
herself underneath our feet so she can retrieve any dropped crumbs. She
particularly enjoyed standing beneath our daughter’s middle son when my wife
kept him. Pig Pen, we call him—and for obvious reasons. The way he eats causes
him to leave many crumbs behind. Sometimes, whole chunks of food. But, of
course, our little mutt didn’t complain.
Our daughter’s two oldest boys usually
ate snacks—and sometimes meals—on our love seat or my wife’s recliner. Mine was
off-limits—unless I was not home to monitor their activity. Our little vacuum
cleaner stood guard by each one, hoping a crumb would fall. When the boys
finished and got up to throw their trash away, our little mutt quickly went to
work, sucking up every crumb they left behind.
One day, as I edited a book
manuscript for an author and my wife sat at the table working on making items
for a baby shower, we heard a whine—our dog’s standard signal when she wants to
go out.
“Let Rita out,” my wife said.
“She’s not at the back door,” I
replied.
“Well, I heard her whine,” she
said.
I had, too. Then it dawned on
me where she was. She had been there before. Under the love seat. Trapped. How
she got there when the ends were not reclined, I never figured out. But once
she got under, she couldn’t get out without me reclining one or both ends.
On this occasion, reclining
didn’t work. I kneeled on my aching knees and saw she had wedged herself in a
small section and was surrounded by springs and bars. Rescuing her meant
lifting one end of the recliner off the ground.
She ran out, but did she learn
her lesson? No. As soon as I put the recliner back down, she scooted under to
see if she had missed any crumbs.
Leftover food tempts our little
dog. Not necessarily a bad thing, unless she gets in a predicament under the
recliner. But temptations are not reserved for my Rita. Paul says they come to
believers and unbelievers alike. The difference is that God assists the
believer when we turn to Him.
Temptations are not sin—but can
quickly lead there. The good news is that God controls them and will not let
them intensify to the point we can’t overcome with His help. Emphasis on “with
His help.” Regardless of the nature or intensity of the temptation, God has an
escape route available if we’ll ask. The temptation may smell good—as it does
for our little pooch—but it will lead to trouble every time. Victory over them,
on the other hand, strengthens us for the next attack.
Stopping for a quick sniff when
temptation comes might be okay, but choosing to eat is another story. Better
yet, ask God to keep you from sniffing in the first place.
Prayer: Father, give us the
strength not to stop and sniff when temptation comes.
Tweetable: Are you sniffing where you shouldn't?
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