"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12)

Okay, I love sugar cookies with frosting that is almost as thick as the cookie. I can usually find these kind of cookies at the store. I could eat about a bazillion of them in one sitting. Well, maybe not a bazillion, but I do eat a lot of them. They are filled with sugar (it's the first ingredient) and bleached white flour, and fat. They are so enticing, looking so pretty with sprinkles on top and have absolutely no substance. But I sure think they taste good, until I eat too many of them. What does eating super fattening cookies have to do with Jesus Christ you may ask? or living the gospel? Well, actually, a lot. Let me explain.

Adam and Eve were created "...and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Eating cookies isn't going to make me die, but it does make me think about what is good. It is my choice to "partake" or not. Just as it was for Adam and Eve to partake or not to partake of the tree of knowledge. This was the plan, for Adam and Eve to have a choice as to whether or not they would partake of the fruit. "...even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:15-16 italics added). Every day we are "enticed" by something, whether for good or bad. The beauty of the whole things is that we get to choose what we want to "eat", whether or not we will be enticed, or yield to those enticings.

Being enticed, what exactly does this mean? Enticed means: "to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or desire: tempt" (Merriam-Webster). Being enticed is a good thing because "...man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16). The Lord Himself said, "And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet- Wherefore, it came to pass that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the commandment, wherein he became subject to the will of the devil, because he yielded unto temptation" (D&C 39-40). It is through this process of being enticed that we are able to learn for ourselves what is good and what is bitter (see Moses 6:55), or what is "light" and what is "dark". We get to choose whether or not we want to follow the Light or the dark (see John 8:12). We must be careful to not call dark light, or light dark. We are warned: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20)!

When we have experienced "light" or "tasted this light" (Alma 32:35) there is a difference in the way we can see, behave, think,  and act. Light lets us see, be, think, act good, because "whatsoever is light, is good" (Alma 32:35). Think about when you have been in a room and the lights are brightened ever so slightly. You might notice it at first, but when your eyes adjust, you don't really notice. But, turn the lights out, you are in the dark. Then you really notice the marked difference between the light and the dark. When the lights come back on, you think it is very bright. The Lord has blessed us to be able to discern between good and bitter a little at a time, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Nephi 28:30) so that we aren't blinded by the light and close our eyes to all truth, for "truth is light" (D&C 84:45). If we eat all the cookies, all at once, we get sick. They wouldn't taste so good. Truth is taught a bite at a time, or a "light" at a time. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalms 119:105). The words of the Lord, or the scriptures are little lights, or cookies if you will, that lead us in our path to Him. They illuminate our way as we read, study, act, follow, as we "taste this light" (Alma 32:35). They will lead us to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). With these words of hope, He was desiring to entice us to follow Him and walk in light and walk in truth. There will be people we come in contact with the won't be able to discern light, or even be enticed by it, even when it is right before them (see John 8:13). But that isn't our worry or concern. We can choose to "press forward, with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20). We get to choose to be enticed and "taste the light", those wonderful, delicious "cookies" that will fill us up and always make us feel good.