"A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet."
Proverbs 27:7 NKJV
What is the best Thanksgiving meal you ever ate? The turkey is on the table, the scent of it stimulating your appetite. You look at the table, ladened with the various dishes- mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, green bean casserole, pies and more. When you see this feast, it takes no coaxing to get to the table.
Now imagine, after you have eaten everything you have desired, including a little too much pumpkin pie and you know you can't eat another bite, something happens. Uncle "Ned" shows up with a box of Ritz crackers and a bottle of Easy Cheese. He asks if you want some. Your response? "Not a chance- thanks, but no thanks, Uncle Ned. I don't have any room!"
When your appetite is sated, you are not prone to indulge further.
We not only have a physical appetite, but we have emotional, psychological, intellectual, relational and spiritual appetites. Sometimes we desire things that are unwholesome and therefore harmful to us. Trying hard to resist the temptation to indulge those cravings usually fuels them. A better approach is to find out how to satisfy your appetites in restorative ways. As with our Thanksgiving dinner, when we are sated with God's best, the unhealthy alternatives don't have the same attraction.
The Psalmist testified about people who "feast on the abundance of Your (God's) house" and have enjoyed "drink from the river of Your (God's) delights" (parenthetical comments mine- see Psalm 36:8). We too, must learn to feast and drink from God's special provision for our full satisfaction. He says to each of us, "delight yourself in abundance" (Isaiah 55:2). Jesus came that we might have "abundant life" (John 10:10).
We need not fear temptation. We simply need to learn how to come to the table of God's abundance and dine!