I grimaced in anticipation as I unwrapped the chocolate, bracing myself for what fresh horror was about to emerge. The slightly dusty-looking sweet, covered in small, white nubbles, slipped from the packaging, landing with a soft thud on a pile of its compatriots. I shuddered. This one had growths.

I had never seen a stash of sweets age so poorly or so fast. Giving little gifts of snacks or sweets is a regular part of Japanese culture, and over the last year we had often received more than Michael or I were able to eat all at once. Whenever that happened, I dutifully placed the extra sweets into a special box in our kitchen, fully intending to return later and make a few well-timed withdrawals. More tended to go in than come out, but I hadn’t worried. This was a stash of junk food. Junk food never goes bad, right?

Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you look at it—I had failed to account for the weather in Japan. Our kitchen in Yokohama did not have air conditioning, and summers here get quite hot and humid. My best guess is that the heat caused the chocolate to melt and the milk and oil it contained to separate and spoil, thus resulting in the revolting trifles I was uncovering only a short time later.

But the experience made me think. Throughout our Christian life, God may call us to give up or forgo things we see as good or desirable. Sometimes it may feel like it’s only the fun things that end up in this category, and it can be hard to trust that we will be happier without them.

But the treasures of earth also age poorly. As we grow closer to God and draw nearer to the light and joy of His presence, the pleasures of this world start to melt away and spoil. After a while, what we first thought would be hard to give up becomes completely unappetizing. It will be easy to throw it in the trash and walk away—just like it was with the chocolate.

• Twitter