Marshmallows
by Angela Weir
There is an amusing clip on YouTube at the moment called ‘The Marshmallow Experiment’. A number of little children are invited into a bare room and seated at a table with a single marshmallow on it. They are told that if they can leave the marshmallow alone for 15 minutes they will be able to have two, but if they decide to eat it they won’t get another one. The parents watch from another room through a video camera, together with the professor making the experiment. The children who are able to leave the marshmallow alone show the strongest wills and apparently will grow up to be confident adults.
It is interesting to watch the different children as they pass the 15 minutes. Some just wait, some give in quite quickly and one little boy picks up the marshmallow, licks it, puts it in his mouth and pulls it about – in fact he does everything but eat it. It is a thoroughly sticky mess at the end, but still uneaten - just!
This is rather like us when we are being tempted. Sometimes we manage to walk away, turning our backs on whatever it is, other times we give in and on some occasions we flirt with it, getting dangerously close to giving way, but finally managing to resist, even though we might get a bit “sticky” in the process.
If sin wasn’t fun we wouldn’t give into it. It’s the after effects that aren’t fun, but we have an Intercessor praying for us at the Father’s throne that we won’t fall into sin (Hebrews 4: 14 – 16). May we learn to lean on Him in times of temptation.
Prayer: Father God, there are so many times when I feel tempted to sin and often I am not strong enough to resist. Please forgive me and help me always to remember that Jesus is interceding on my behalf. I am so very grateful and may I learn to lean on Him. In His precious Name, Amen.
Angela Weir has been associated with Ellel Ministries from the very beginning, first as an associate member of the ministry team and later as an associate teacher. She trained as an actress before moving to Cumbria, where she taught drama in a girls’ school. She now teaches and ministers at various Ellel Centres.
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