Welcome to 10 minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Keith Simon. I'm sure you're familiar with the

marshmallow test. It's the social experiment where they put young kids in a

room with a marshmallow. The teacher says that she's going to leave the

room and if the kid doesn't eat the

marshmallow while she's gone then the kid can have two marshmallows when she

gets back. The test is designed to measure the kid's self-control. The idea is that if a

kid can delay gratification, then that kid will be more likely to succeed in the rest of their life.

I'm sure that's true, and there are probably a lot of other lessons we can learn from the test.

But today I just want us to think about an important

assumption the kids have to make. Each kid has to decide if they believe the teacher can be trusted.

Will the teacher do what she says and give two marshmallows when she returns?

And of course they also have to decide if they believe that the reward of two marshmallows is worth the weight.

There are a lot of parallels between the marshmallows is worth the weight. There are a lot of parallels between the marshmallow

test and the Christian life. Here's a couple. Do I trust God to do what he says? Like do I believe that God is going to keep his word? Do I believe that the

eternal joy that I find in being in heaven with Jesus is worth the sacrifice

that I make now.

Am I willing to wait for it?

Jesus tells us to lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth.

Am I willing to forego treasures on earth in order to experience more treasures more joy in heaven.

And that sounds like the marshmallow test doesn't it? The Christian life calls us to believe

what God says, to have faith that he is telling us the truth.

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