Sometimes you don’t know what triggers it but suddenly you have a taste for some particular food you haven’t thought about for a long time. You can almost taste it and you can’t get it out of your mind. It’s the only thing that will hit the spot. When that happens to me it’s usually something salty.

That’s okay for an occasional food item but it’s not okay when an old temptation pops back up. Maybe there is a sin which you have dealt with in the past and you think is dead. You conquered it some time ago and never expected to be attracted again. Yet, here it is craving for your attention once more.

Usually, trying to put something out of your mind is the very thing that keeps it in there. So, what should you do? The first thing is: don’t be shocked. Yes, the thing is dead but the devil wonders if he can get you to doubt that fact. He tries tossing a thought into your mind to test: will you take the bait?

Tell him “NO” by acknowledging what is really happening. Tell him you are on to him. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”(James 4:7) Remember that you are not so much resisting the thought but the devil behind the thought. When you bring to light his intended deception over you, the jig is up. If you don’t believe him he has no way to re-hook you.

The craving for the old sin will pass. Wait it out. Fill up your thought life with God and all that is good. That’s a worthy craving.