My wife and I took the kids to this annual sale at the local high school this last weekend and my son found this Pac-Man game that plugs right into the TV, for $1.00. Some of you reading this are like, "What's Pac-Man"?
If you said that, you need to wash your mouth out with soap, and not just any soap, Lifebuoy.
Pac-Man is one of the greatest video games ever invented.
We used to hang out at this corner store after elementary school and drop quarters into that game like our life depended on it.
We got to be fairly good at the game but I had a downfall.
It was no doubt a downfall that plagued millions of unsuspecting kids world-wide.
Some of you know what I'm talking about.
It was the fruit.
You see, on every level there was a moment when a cherry, or an orange, or some other random piece of food popped up on the screen and if you ate it, points were rewarded.
The goal of the game was to clear the screen, the fruit was just a bonus.
But the fruit was so tempting.
How many times had my Pac-Man met it's fate by my magnetic movement toward the fruit, when all I had to do was eat one more dot, and advance to the next level?
It's funny because it's a game, but all too often it's our downfall in the real world too.
Greed.
We seek more when what we have is sufficient.
The quest for one more is a dangerous quest because sooner or later we end up with more than we can handle.
Greed is an ugly sin too, because when greed comes to the surface in our lives, it reveals our heart to others.
Satan could have used any tactic to get to Adam and Eve in the garden, but he appealed to their greed.
Adam and Eve had it all.
They had everything they needed.
They were living the good life.
They didn't have to worry about bill collectors. When April rolled around in the Garden of Eden, they had no fear of the IRS.
They had it good!!
But Satan told Eve that he could give her more and just like Pac-Man, she went for the fruit.
The rest is history.
Satan chose to appeal to their greed because it's an innate characteristic....so it was easy.
Given enough time and a place where we think nobody can see us, and we will exhibit all kinds of greed, won't we?
The truth is that God's grace is sufficient for us.
We don't need anything above and beyond that, and when we start looking for more than we need, God is very good at teaching us that greed is not an attribute we should have.
He threw Adam and Eve out of paradise for it.
Allow God to be sufficient for you.
Just clear the level and forget about the fruit.
You will be glad you did.
