“Why do good foods taste bad?” While this is not always the case, it is generally accepted as a valid observation. However, as much as we might like it, we cannot live a healthy life on a diet of cake and ice cream. Our parents were right insisting that we eat other things, even if the only reason given was that these things were “good for us.”
Spiritually speaking, we can be premature in our assessment of good and evil. Without spiritual discernment, we are unable to look past short-term pleasure to long-term good. As stated previously, Eve made this mistake when she succumbed to Satan’s temptation in the Garden. Similarly, Lot was short-sighted when he chose to live near Sodom simply because the Jordan valley was well-watered and ideal for sustaining livestock (Gen. 13:10).
If uncorrected, attraction to “the things of the world” leads to spiritual death because it directs focus away from the Father (1 Jn. 2:15-17). Instead of cultivating an appreciation for things eternal, one develops an obsessive preoccupation with the “here and now” – things that can seen, touched, and felt. “Blinded” by “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) and “darkened” in “understanding” (Eph. 4:18), one soon becomes so callous as to give himself over to the love and practice of sin with greediness (vs. 19).
What affects the world often infects the church. Though called out to be separate (2 Cor. 6:17), a lack of spiritual discernment has clouded the perspective of many Christians. Bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18), yet unwilling to give Him first place in their lives (Col. 1:18), many have chosen to give recreational, social, and family activities first place over spiritual priorities such as worshiping and serving God with the saints. Yet, with spiritual discernment, these are things both “good” and “tasty.”
— Glen Elliott —