And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:6

If you have children or grandchildren, you know the cartoon character Shrek is a pretty popular guy.

For those of you who don't have children or grandchildren, you should know that Shrek, a cartoon ogre, has starred in four full-length and very successful cartoons.

So popular is the Shrek character that no less a company than McDonald's decided to woo young consumers by giving away 16-ounce glasses. Children, along with their parents were encouraged to collect these glasses, which carried one of the four leading characters from the films.

Apparently, the campaign was a success because McDonald's has given out 12 million of those cartoon character glasses.

But now McDonald's is telling people to stop using those glasses.

And what's the reason for this decision? That's simple: the painted designs on the glasses contain the toxic metal cadmium. In short, the glasses look good but, after time, the cadmium may find itself on the hands of a child. If that child puts his hands into his mouth, well, a known carcinogen is now in that child's body.

Eve and Adam would have understood.

In the Garden of Eden, Satan pointed out a tree to them. It was a tree good to look at, a tree which was good for food, a tree which had the bonus attraction of making a person smart.

Of that tree Scripture tells us they both "did eat." And death was introduced into their world -- and ours.

Temptation often seems good to look at, doesn't it? It wouldn't be much of a temptation if it wasn't . . . well . . . if it wasn't tempting.

Truly, we are a weak and sinful race. Each day Satan and the world beguile us and we fall into temptation and sin.

This is why we need the Savior. In the Person of Jesus Christ we find the one Person who resisted temptation -- every temptation -- every time.

Even more importantly, He resisted those temptations for us. Now, because of Jesus' resistance to temptation, we no longer have to be afraid of the devil's temptations. We have to do our best to avoid them, but we need not fear them.

Because of Jesus, forgiveness is ours and eternal life is ours. Because of Jesus we are forgiven, we are healed, and we are saved.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, I give thanks that You, for our salvation, resisted the all-so-pretty temptations of this world. May I always give thanks for Your great and gracious sacrifice. In Your Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Proverbs 19-21    Acts 3

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