Monday, August 27, 2007

Clifford the Big Red Dog and James 1:14-15



For those of you with toddlers, you might have seen this episode of Clifford the Big Red Dog on PBS. The episode was called, "Clifford's Cookie Craving," and it was a rather truthful illustration at how temptation turns into sin in our very real lives. I'm sure the folks at PBS didn't consider the Biblical truths this cartoon was exposing, but they certainly were doing just that.


In the episode, Clifford sees a gigantic chocolate chip cookie that is being entered into the fair's baking contest. It looks very appealing. Though the cookie is quickly out of sight, he lets his thoughts dwell on the cookie until everything around him reminds him of the temptation and his craving. Finally, he puts his craving into action. He says he will go into the tent in which the cookie is displayed and merely look at the cookie. He looks at the cookie, which quickly turns into smelling the cookie. Before he knows it, Clifford has taken a huge bite out of the cookie. He regrets the sin immediately and tries to cover it up by eating around the edge to cover up his conspicuous bite. Of course, his sin is discovered, but he is forgiven by the nice lady who made the cookie.
James 1:14-15 tells us the following,
"but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and
enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
Facing a temptation in itself is not a sin. The first step toward sin is when you allow the temptation to take residence in your thoughts. When you dwell on a temptation you will desire it. Then the desire you feel for the temptation will conceive sin--whether the sin be jealousy, anger, idolotry, lust, hate, etc..
So what are we to do when we face a temptation? We are to flee from it! To bring up my silly example, Clifford could have asked his doggy friends to keep him accountable to not go near that tent and not talk about cookies. He could have left the fair. He could have replaced his desire for a cookie with other thoughts that were godly--helping at the fair, serving his friends in their enjoyable day, etc. II Timothy 2:22 says,
"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and
peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
We have examples both of desire conceiving sin and of fleeing temptation in the Bible. The oft quoted example of David and Bathsheba is a great example of facing temptation, dwelling on the desire and acting upon it in sin. David saw her bathing and didn't flee. He stayed to see, inquired about her, thought about his desire and had an adulterous affair because he allowed the flesh to give into the temptation. Joseph is the opposite example. He had the temptation of Potiphar's wife wanting to sleep with him. It would have been an easy way to serve himself and get her to quit pestering him to just have the affair. However, he didn't ponder the temptation. He ran away from her, even leaving his cloak in her grasping hand. James 4:7 tells us that if we resist Satan, he will flee from us!
Even Jesus faced temptation from Satan in the desert, but he fleed from his evil schemes with the righteous word of God. He pursued the will of His Father. He replaced any thoughts that could have entered His mind with what was noble, pure and lovely. Hebrews 4:15 tells us,
"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sypathize with our weaknesses, but
was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
Christ is the noble example to follow when temptations cross our path.
We will all face temptations every day. Be alert and realistic about the attacks of Satan and the realities that will come from this sinful world. Know the Word of God in order to replace temptation and the desirous thoughts that follow it with holy words, thoughts and deeds. Don't let "cookie cravings" lead you down that path to sin.

5 comments:

Ryan Hawley said...

Fleeing really is the only sure-fire way to deal with temptation. It might seem silly or overly dramatic at first, but we always end up regretting it if we don't.

The other interesting thing I learned from your blog was that doggies had accountability partners. I didn't know they did that.

And I think your post was entirely anti-cookie. Some of the cookie eaters among us might get offended :) Mmmmm....cookies...

Tall Tale of a Teacher! said...

Amen to this: "Know the Word of God in order to replace temptation and the desirous thoughts that follow it with holy words, thoughts and deeds." When we fill our soul with God we are living for him and can feel the power in fleeing!

Mary Beth Padilla said...

I like Ryan's ending, mmmmm.....cookies...., at least I can relate to that craving, especially chocolate chip. In fact, if I had been told that the streets of Heaven were paved with chocolate chip cookies instead of gold, I would have repented earlier :-) Seriously, our thoughts are huge precursors to our actions. That is why we are to focus our thoughts on Jesus Christ and how we can glorify him. Also, fleeing temptation, both physically and mentally, works. We can ask God for power and strength to do just that.

ShaWAna said...

As much as I loved your blog, I can't help but crack up at Ryan's comments and your Mom's comments. Absolutely hilarious! Who knew Clifford the Big Red Dog could cause such a stir? Ha! Thank you for sharing your heart and sanctification through this blog. So glad to call you my friend!
Shawna (my user name is because I comment on Dale's blog most of the time)

Anonymous said...

Good for people to know.