National Dessert Day
By Caron Cline
Burke County
October 14th is National Dessert Day. The majority of Americans have never met a dessert they did not like. The fall of the year brings its own specialty sweets; pumpkin pies and pumpkin rolls; pumpkin cheesecake; apple pies; and sweet potato casseroles, just to name a few. Unfortunately, Americans consume about 17 teaspoons of sugar a day, totaling about 60 pounds of sugar per year. This is 3 times more than any one person should allow themselves.
Resisting the temptation to indulge requires incredible self-control. Interestingly, the spelling of this word is often confused with the spelling of another word, desert. Although the spellings are similar the definitions could not be more different. Dessert is a sweet, savory treat that sets the taste buds singing. Eating sweets seems to produce feelings of happiness and pleasure, causing the body to continually crave this sugar high. Although dessert is appealing, it contains ingredients known for producing poor health conditions.
On the other hand, a desert is a difficult and dry place, lacking in food and water. No one willingly chooses to spend quality time in a desert. Yet so often the Lord leads His people into such a place to produce spiritual strength. Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit immediately following His baptism where He was tempted by the devil.
Some things happen in the place of affliction that cannot happen anywhere else. If believers are indulging the flesh, nothing of true eternal value can be born. Only empty calories that harden the soul’s arteries are produced. It is in the desert, the place of want, that endurance and faith are formed.
Isaiah 48:10 is a word from the Lord to His people: “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction”. The desert, the furnace of affliction, reveals the state of the heart. Is the faith that we profess a faith that tastes sweet but contains empty calories? Or is the faith we profess one that can survive difficulties and still offer the sacrifice of praise?
Difficult seasons produce a hunger and thirst for righteousness, a desire for the bread of life, the living Word. The prophet Ezekiel was called to speak a word of judgment to the people of God, a word which would plunge him into a desert season.
God encouraged him by saying: ‘…Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you’. Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth’. (Ezekiel 3:1-3)
Psalm 119:103 also declares: ‘How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ In those desert seasons of life, we learn to fill our souls with the living word of God. The Holy Spirit inspired this comparison of God’s word with honey.
Modern science now believes that honey contains anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, and anti-anxiety properties. It also improves memory problems and promotes the healing of wounds, especially burns. The desert brings hunger, thirst, burns, as well as other wounds, yet it is the place where God can administer His healing, strengthening, living Word; the place where He can burn away the dross and purify a people for His own purpose and glory! Go ahead and enjoy that pumpkin cheesecake or apple pie but remember that it is the enduring word of God that brings life and health to your whole body!
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Caron is a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Morganton, NC. She loves to teach the word of God.
Her desire is to see every believer grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
You can read more Christian News from Caron HERE.
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