My oldest son was in third grade when his teacher assigned the class their very first BIG school project.

The premise for the assignment was based on the hit TV show “Shark Tank.”

Each student would be given one week to “invent” a product and create a poster depicting/describing its use and cost. It could be as practical or as fantastical as they wanted.

At the end of the week, the assignment would culminate in a presentation. One by one, each student would be given an opportunity to “pitch” their idea to their fellow classmates, who would then subsequently vote for their favorite.

My son’s invention was called the “Multi-Tool.” A 4-in-1 yard tool that was capable of digging, sawing, tilling, and raking ⚒🛠….a practical yet manly product that would undoubtedly strongly appeal to most middle-aged men with dad-bods who frequent Home Depot (aka my husband…😜).

However…sadly, I must report that the “Multi-Tool” didn’t gain quite as much traction amongst the 10-and-under crowd. 🤷‍♀️😂

It seems my son’s fellow third-graders were much more intrigued by another classmate’s unique product idea…an invention called “Tastes-So-Good Powder.”

“Tastes-So-Good Powder” is just as simple as it sounds…you sprinkle it on top of anything you want to (or have to) eat and it makes everything “Taste-So-Good” — especially all the “gross” foods that kids hate, like broccoli, brussel sprouts, and spinach.

What 8-year-old wouldn’t jump at the chance to make meatloaf taste like pizza or brussel spouts taste like candy? 😋😉

Let’s just say she won by a landslide. 😂😂😂

And honestly, I think her invention was brilliant. I’ve got to hand it to her — the kid certainly knew her market. She knew exactly how to pander to every eight-year-old’s deepest hopes, fears, and desires…and she used it to her advantage.

And so does Satan.

He knows our hopes, he knows our fears, he knows our desires…but he panders to them in a much more sinister way.

In fact, the devil has been using his own version of “Tastes-So-Good Powder” to cover up the bitter taste of sin ever since Eve and Adam first first took a bite of that forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Fast-forward to 2022…and now we’re living in a society where nearly everything is sprinkled with “Tastes-So-Good Powder” and sin is blatantly marketed as the cultural norm.

• Street drugs legalized.
• Abortion condoned.
• Drunkenness socially accepted.
• Divorce and broken homes rampant.
• Depression and anxiety at an all-time high.
• Leaders that are liars.
• Shootings in our schools.
• Human trafficking in our local neighborhoods.
• Shows like “The Real Housewives” fill our TV line up.
• Schools reading our children stories about homosexuality and transgenderism.
• Social media streams filled with explicit images, profane language, haters, trolls, and slanderous memes.
• The pornography industry delivering unsolicited messages straight to our inboxes.
• Sins that used to be done in the dark, are now being broadcast in broad daylight.

But if we could only see sin for the ultimate death and destruction it brings in both this life and ultimately the afterlife — we would surely think long and hard before entangling ourselves in these foolish transgressions.

• “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23)
• “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (I Corinthians 6:9-10)
• “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”(Galatians 5:19-21)
• “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)
• “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.” (Romans 1:29-31)
• “…envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:21)

WOW.

Honestly, if these verses don’t scare you to death, I don’t know what will.

It doesn’t matter how much “Tastes-So-Good Powder” you sprinkle on it, sin will never be good for you. Satan may be able to change the taste, but he can’t change sin’s basic composition. This stuff comes straight out of the dumpster. It’s rotten. Spoiled. Disease-laden.

If you wouldn’t dumpster dive for your next meal, then it doesn’t make sense to feed yourself that way spiritually either.

Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35) and the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)…they don’t need to be covered up with any “Tastes-So-Good Powder” to be enjoyed.

Feed on his Word today.

Until next time…

-PWAP