Wednesday Bible Blurb Obey the little things 6 24 2026
The little round cookie looked so very good. In fact, it was a little round cream frosting filled chocolate Oreo cookie. I wanted it so badly and just as I was about to eat it my dad called me home from the neighbors for dinner. I really wanted the creamy frosting filling from the Oreo cookie. Actually, I wanted the entire cookie, it was enticing but I had been called home by my dad. Doubt of what to do filled my small 8-year-old mind but in the end, I went home and did not eat the Oreo cookie.
Now, the rest of the story. When I got home, I begged my dad to let me go back to the neighbors to “play” for a while. Somehow, he knew (Moms and dads just seem to know what us little kids are up to) I wanted to go back for the cookie. It was dinner time, so he gave me strict instructions to not EAT a cookie at the neighbors. Gleefully I ran back to the neighbors and looked at the cookie. My lust and covetousness overtook me, and I did the exact opposite of what dad told me to do. That Oreo cookie looked so luscious and was filled with double thick creamy frosting in the middle. I ached and longed to eat that cookie. It looked so good. I picked it up, twisted the two sides apart and licked the frosting in the middle and then gobbled down the entire thing. Who would know if I ate an Oreo cookie? Crunchy chocolate cookie on the outside and sweat creamy frosting in the middle. Satisfied with my cookie snack I went home sure I would not be found out.
Did you know an Oreo cookie sticks to your teeth and your dad will know you ate it? I had been given explicit instructions not to eat the Oreo cookie. It was a small command from my dad, “Do not eat that cookie.” It was a test command from dad. Would I obey even the smallest and simplest commands from dad? I failed the food test from dad. Such a small detail, one cookie.
Adam’s Dad (God) gave Adam a simple test command the first day of his existence. God’s instruction was quite simple. It was a test of simple obedience of a small thing for Adam. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:16-17 [NKJV]). What was different about this one special tree called the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”? Nothing. It looked like all the other millions of fruit trees available for food to Adam. Fruit is good to eat (So it seems, are Oreo cookies). The fruit on the tree looked good and maybe it had thick creamy frosting filling in the middle too. God simply gave Adam a test to see if he would obey, don’t eat from THAT tree. Like the enticing magnet of a frosting cream filled Oreo cookie, Eve ate from the tree and gave some to her husband. Sin entered the world and I succumbed to the Oreo cookie at my neighbors.
Such a simple little command from dad and from Dad. Don’t eat that cookie and don’t eat that fruit. We (Me, Adam and Eve) failed the test of obedience, even for such a small thing. God was specific in saying what not to eat and they ate it anyhow. Jesus, who was also in the Garden of Eden as the God of the Old Testament said, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” I was unfaithful even in the smallest of a test command from my dad, “don’t eat that cookie”. I chose to go against what he said, and I suffered when I arrived home from the neighbors. Mankind has been suffering ever since Adam and Eve ate what God said not to eat.
James, the little brother of Jesus gives us a step-by-step list of how sin enters us. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. [Think of the creamy double frosting filled Oreo cookie] Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15). I desired the Oreo cookie. It was enticing as it dangled in front of my lusting eight-year-old eyes. I coveted and it gave birth to sin and my punishment. Adam and Eve desired to eat what God said not to eat. A small test command and they failed. I desired to eat what my dad had told me not to eat. A small test command and I failed.
When I ate the luxurious Oreo cookie, I was unfaithful in a very little thing. “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10). It was a long time before my dad could trust me again. It hurt my heart knowing he was hurt by my disobedience. I failed the test. For us we must learn to be obedient to God even in the smallest of requests. The next time God explicitly says not to eat something, don’t be tempted by desire and eat it. For disobedience, even in the smallest of things brings forth death. God wants us to live.
It has been a very long time since I have had an Oreo cookie.
Mike Wallace
