Temptation: Avoiding the Milkshake

When it comes to food, dogs are notorious for wanting things that they can’t have or shouldn’t have. This is a theme that runs through most dog breeds. Meeko is as much of a beggar as I’ve ever seen in a dog. As he gets older, we can always test to see if his hearing is in good shape by crinkling a bag of chips or cookies or anything that makes that type of sound. This is the sound that grabs the ears of a dog and alerts them that their humans are getting treats. He’ll run as fast as he can from wherever he is at the time to the sound of the crinkle because he wants in on the snack.

However, we’ve noticed that Meeko has self-imposed boundaries. He has a routine that he developed by himself. If you were to place a piece of the food you are eating on the ground or within his reach, Meeko knows that it is for him. He knows that it is his but he waits for you to say, “Ok!” before he takes it. If you wait long enough to let him have it, Meeko will turn around only to glance back occasionally at his treat. He will back away and intentionally not go near the treat until he hears the action word. Its like he knows that he can’t be trusted to not give in to the temptation of taking something before his time. At feeding time, Meeko waits on a rug in our house until we say that he can have his bowl. He’s such a good dude that, on occasion, we have accidentally forgotten to say, “Ok!” and he has just stayed on the rug for the rest of the night. In those times, we would wonder where he was only to go back and find that he was still waiting on the rug ready to go eat. He fights temptation so well!

The best example of Meeko’s anti-temptation system that I have seen comes from the day that he was preparing to be the face of a National Dog Day advertisement. The Ad was for a national restaurant chain that wanted the world to know, especially on National Dog Day, that they are a dog friendly place. We set up a photo shoot where Meeko was to be photographed beside a milkshake. Instead of normal treats to coerce acceptable behavior on the shoot, we let Meeko sample the goods. We gave him a little cup of the milkshake between a few of the shots. Once he realized that he had to stand beside a full cup of what he was getting to eat between the takes, Meeko went into temptation avoidance mode. He all but ruined the rest of the shoot because he was too scared that he couldn’t control himself. We would slide him up next to the milkshake and he would inch away from it. He then began to plant his feet where we put them but then lean away from the milkshake. This was absolutely counterproductive to our reason for being there. The pictures were turning out like he didn’t want to have any part of this restaurant chain, a polar opposite look from the one that we were trying to achieve. We eventually got the money shot but it was significantly harder once he realized that he was too close to the edge.

All too often, this is a lesson that humans can’t quite master. We have, as humans, the capacity to destroy our lives through giving in to our own temptations. From simple things in life like regulating our sugar intake, to the big things like regulating alcohol intake, or maybe the complications that come with giving our heart away too many times before we find and marry our soul mate, we have the capacity to ruin our lives by not even trying to put distance between ourselves and our trouble spots.

We have numerous examples throughout the Bible of people who dealt with the same temptations that we face. One example in particular is the story of a man named Lot. Lot, his wife, and his household were given a choice about where they were going to live. They chose a beautiful spot with amazing land that was perfect for his farm and cattle. The problem was that this beautiful land was near a city full of people with actions, habits, and lifestyles that didn’t align with the standards that God had for them. Time went on and they moved closer and closer to the city. Before long, Lot found himself living within the walls of this city and letting his heart turn toward the ways of the locals. They barely made it out of the city with their lives. In fact, Lot’s wife didn’t make it out. Lot’s life didn’t get any better from there. He continued to reap consequences associated with not running from the temptation that was before him so many years prior.

Another example from the scriptures is a man that we know as King David. David gave in to several temptations in a row. The first was the temptation to stay behind in his palace instead of going off to visit his men at war. The second came late one night. From the roof of the palace, he saw a woman bathing. Being the king, he wanted her and knew that he could have her. David didn’t go back inside and try to forget what he saw. He gave in to the temptation to have her over. This lead to a chain reaction of getting another man’s wife pregnant and later having him murdered.

We have the gift of hindsight in the stories just like the story of Lot and the story of David. We see their entire lives, the beginnings, the downfalls, and the triumphs play out over just a few sentences. While reading about their lives, it is easy to judge. It is easy to say, “I would never!” while we dive headfirst into equivalent situations because we can’t see it coming through the consequences of little choices here and there. No person is immune to temptation. Both men mentioned above were favorites in the eyes of God. Lot is referred to as a just man and a righteous man. David has the prestigious title in the scriptures as a man after the heart of God. If both of these men had so much favor in the eyes of God and still blew it so badly, who are we to think that we can sustain in the face of temptation? In our lives, it would be best if we could just learn to avoid the milkshake.