An Extended Analogy

An Extended Analogy

An Extended Analogy

By: Emily Swanson

How would you feel if you saw a stunning chocolate cake sitting out on the counter, ready for someone to eat? However, when you bit into it, your pleasure turned into disgust at the crunchy exoskeletons of cockroaches. You are mortified at the thought of how easily you are tricked by the tempting appearance. Sin is just like the cockroaches inside the beautifully iced cake.

Like the pretty, purple icing roses on the cake with their delicate petals, sin’s external beauty is enticing. The smooth chocolate fudge frosting promises excitement for your taste buds, so you walk straight into it not expecting evil intentions.

When you first see an opportunity for sin, it is beautiful.  You feel a twinge of guilt as you slice the piece. Before you take the bite, you look around to make sure no one is watching. But when you delve deeper, you begin to see the consequences and ugliness of it like the ugly, black cockroaches inside the nice coating of icing.

Your stomach reels as the remains of the slimy cockroaches, antennae, legs, guts, and all, slide through your esophagus and down into your intestines. The sin is no longer appealing but unmasked for its true self.  You are angered, ashamed, and filled with remorse. Guilt begins to seep into your conscience. You must make the choice whether or not to continue on that road or repent and ask the Lord for help.

The devil will deceive many with this tastefully decorated cake. He sets the beautiful creation on the counter to tempt the passers by. Lying in wait nearby, he waits to capture you in the act of sin. If we do not keep our senses alert, we become desensitized to our sin, and the cockroaches taste like delicious bites of chocolate cake.

To sum it all up, remember that sin is always lovely and attractive on the external. But when we look inside, it is internally appalling and hideous.  The devil is deceptive and the master of disguise. He disguises sin and when someone falls for his temptation, he pulls them into his snare.  In fact, he has been destroying many people by this method from the beginning of time.