LHM Daily Devotion - October 7, 2017 "Tasty"

Both my grandmothers were good German cooks. And, yes, I know there are...

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour

"Tasty"

October 7, 2017

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

~ Genesis 3:6 (ESV)

Both my grandmothers were good German cooks. And, yes, I know there are connoisseurs who would say that good German food is a contradiction in terms.

That being said, to the best of my knowledge, neither of them ever used a hot pepper in any of their culinary creations. Black pepper was usually as wild as they ever got. As far as cooking with chili peppers, that was a temptation they found easy to resist.

For those of you who don't know, the heat of a chili pepper is measured in Scoville units.

A bell pepper has 0 heat and, therefore, it registers 0 on the Scoville scale. A banana pepper will come in around 500 Scoville units, and a really hot jalapeño registers 10,000. Now that gives you some perspective when I say the hottest chili pepper in the world used to be the Carolina Reaper, which registered 2.2 million Scoville units.

Having watched people eat a Carolina Reaper, I can offer this single piece of advice: don't.

But the reign of the Carolina Reaper is over. Its crown has been captured by a new chili called the "Dragon's Breath." That pretty, little, bright red chili sets the record by chalking up 2.48 million Scoville units.

• In practical terms, that chili is hotter than the pepper spray used by the U.S. Army.
• The grower says touching the pepper numbs your skin.
• More than one newspaper has said that anyone who eats the pepper raw and whole could die from anaphylactic shock.

So the question arises: why would anybody grow, mess around with, or eat such a barn burner?

The best answer to that question can be found in Genesis 3 where we see Adam and Eve eating the fruit from a tree, which had been forbidden to them. Why did they do it? The answer is threefold:

1. The fruit was good for food.
2. The food was pleasant to the eye.
3. Because they thought they could get away with it.

Adam and Eve didn't get away with it, and neither will the folks who eat the Dragon's Breath chili. The truth is the Lord has laid out His Commandments, and every time we try to circumvent or rewrite them we get into trouble.

Which leads this devotion to say give thanks to the Lord who has had mercy on you. Through His Son the terrible punishment that resulted from our eating the forbidden fruit has been erased. Because of Him you have been forgiven and saved from the fires of hell, which are hotter than a Dragon's Breath chili.

But, even so, still don't eat the forbidden fruit.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, forgive ears that don't hear You and eyes that still long for the forbidden fruits of sin. Grant that our hearts and minds, saved by Jesus, may learn to trust You and You alone. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin!  Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).