Tuesday, August 9, 2016
The serpent
was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really
say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the
trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit
from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch
it; if you do, you will die.’” “You
won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows
that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God,
knowing both good and evil.” The woman
was convinced. She saw that the tree was
beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would
give her. So she took some of the fruit
and ate it. Then she gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that
moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.
So they sewed fig leaves together to
cover themselves. Genesis 3:1-7(NLT)
Snakes and Preacher Brownworth have
always had short conversations. Generally,
whenever I meet a snake I try to keep my head…and make sure the snake loses his! In nearly threescore and ten years on this
planet I have not changed my opinion about this relationship in the slightest!
Have you ever noticed the patience of
snakes? Snakes will wait for you to move
right next to them; they’re really good at camouflage. Several weeks ago I was standing within a few
feet of a copperhead our dog had discovered in our yard. Elizabeth was pointing it out to me…and I still
couldn’t see it. Eventually I introduced
him to my shovel! You never debate with
a snake!
And therein is the best lesson
learned from Eve’s encounter with Lucifer:
You never
debate about sin…you run from sin!
In the Garden of Eden, Eve
got drawn into a debate, and the human race has been going downhill in that
department ever since!
Had she been a little more patient,
or better yet, not even answered the old serpent at all, he would not have been
able to trick her into taking the forbidden fruit.
Solomon, perhaps the wisest amongst Adam’s
entire race said:
My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on
them!
Proverbs 1:10(NLT)
Paul warned that resisting temptation
is a spiritual battle:
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to
resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be
standing firm.
Ephesians 6:13(NLT)
For You Today
It’s a wise thing to remember that forbidden
fruit is forbidden for a very good reason. And when God does the forbidding, you can rest
assured that reason is for your benefit, and not just to deprive you of
something.
So…gear up, put on your spiritual armor…and don’t
debate the snake!
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