I’m Dr. Bob and for just a Mentoring Minute, I want to share a conversation a person had at lunch. He happens to be diabetic. He was served a deliciously smelling stew and noticed it had potatoes in it. Potatoes turn from starch into sugar as they are digested. He declined his host’s well-meaning offer to have “just one potato.” When his host replied, “It’s only one potato,” he said to her, “one potato leads to two.” You see, he knew that to ignore small temptations would open doors to bigger ones. Then, the bigger temptations would bring damaging consequences, in this case, to his health. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Here is the lesson to be learned. Never underestimate the damage today’s small temptation brings to your tomorrows. Be a person of absolutely no compromise in your integrity. Desire always and in all ways to be well pleasing to God. …We all could apply that to our diets. I’m Dr. Bob. Perhaps you did not know it, but what I told you actually happened to me. You see, I am diabetic. I understand the value of this lesson. My decision was there would be no potatoes for me at lunch. I also do my best every day to see that there are no temptations in other areas of my life that could grow like the “one potato that leads to two.” Reflect on what “small potatoes” are in your life. How could you change so they would not open doors to something far bigger and more damaging? You can listen to additional Mentoring Minutes at http://www.mentoringministry.com.