3 minute read

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:1-5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We are all familiar with this story, right?  It’s the infamous moment when Eve decided she would eat the forbidden fruit, and give some to Adam (rolls eyes). But y’all know what I always say, don’t judge Eve too harshly. We have all had our Eve moments at some point in our lives.

Let’s discuss it…

The serpent said, “you will not certainly die. For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Pause. What’s wrong with just being like Eve? God literally hand-crafted her! Listen, I believe this is a telltale sign of the spirit someone has. The Bible says “test the spirits” (1 John 4: 1). The right people celebrate you as you are! Just a nice to know little tidbit!

Where I want to park for today, though, is highlighting the strategy of satan. Most of us know he’s a liar. The issue is, his lies are typically wrapped in some truth, which is how he trips us up. He said, “you will not certainly die.” That was the truth. She wasn’t going to physically die if she ate the fruit. So to Eve, he said what she wanted to hear—I’m not going to die! Her flesh wanted to eat the fruit. As soon as she heard what agreed with her mind, she did it.

How many of us have allowed our minds to be governed by our flesh? Done things because we wouldn’t “certainly die?” I’ll just get faded tonight, I’ll just sleep with them once, I’ll tell a little white lie. We think none of these things will kill us or anyone. But it does. It kills our spirits. Eve died that day. Her spotless relationship with God died that day.

What has died in you, though you have not “certainly died?”

This story teaches us two very important things. First, our spirit dies when we let our flesh govern. We must allow the spirit to govern our mind. The spirit makes decisions for the Kingdom. We talked about the fruit of the spirit in one of our other reflections. Love, joy, peace, patience… This is why Romans says the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace!

Secondly, we must be two steps ahead of satan. He likes to send thoughts to our minds and they are always wrapped with some truth. For example, he’s right, you’ll never stop being addicted. Caveat—not as long as you’re doing what you’re doing. Shake some things up! He’s right, you can’t overcome this situation you’re in. Caveat—until you put some work with that faith. Try letting your net back down on the other side, Peter! Football players watch so much film and win and chess champions are made because they study strategy!

“Greater is He that is in me” (1 John 4:4). Doesn’t this make you more crafty than satan?

Xoxo