Day 3 Believe
Some words are easier to believe than others.
This won’t hurt a bit!
I’ll be right back!
This will just take a minute!
I’ll pay you back as soon as possible!
You don’t look a day over forty!
This will be good for you!
This will change your life!
I suppose it matters who is telling us these things. We tend
to believe those we trust, those who have a track record of being true to their
word.
But not always.
I wonder why Adam and Eve believed what the serpent said to them
even though they had already experienced the goodness of God in the garden? God
had told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then
God created Eve. Adam must have shared this information with Eve. Did she not
believe him? What made the serpent so attractive that Eve would lean in,
listen, tell Adam about it and and both would eat the fruit? What did they believe about themselves? Why did they
believe the lie?
“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.”
Perhaps we all want to believe that there is something
better out there than what we already have, and that it will increase our
happiness and contentment if we obtain it. We forget to consider the source.
Have you ever believed that receiving a hoped-for gift would
change your life, but then you were really disappointed?
Photo by Miguel Maldonado on Unsplash
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Loved your questions. Sometimes I wish the Bible went in to more details and would answer our whys?
ReplyDeleteI'm doing this 40 day devotional by Jennifer Kennedy Dean called "Altar'd." (Actually it will take me longer than that because in the middle of it we are doing a class from church that has daily assignments so I've temporarily put the Jennifer Kennedy Dean study on hold until we finish the class. But she mentioned about Adam and Eve and what could have been the basis of the fall.
ReplyDeleteIn her words, the fruit of the tree was:
1. Good for food (looked delicious).
2. Pleasing to the eye (beautiful).
3. Desirable for gaining wisdom (Eve wanted wisdom it would give her.)
God had made all kinds of trees that grew out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
The deceiver appealed to Eve's legitimate desire (a delight to the eyes) and played on her God given needs (good for food) to lead her to believe that she could find a way to satisfy those needs and desires on her own (desiring for gaining wisdom). She could be wise instead of looking to God for wisdom. She could be her own source.
Again, above is from Jennifer Kennedy Dean's book Altar'd.
Anyway, it made perfect sense when I read it. The enemy planted just enough doubt into her I believe that made her question why God would keep something that good from her and Adam when it was for their own good.
My "trouble" with believe is that I believe in my mind things (like God's goodness, wisdom, etc.) but sometimes in my heart it is hard to believe that he really knows what is best for me and to completely trust in him.
betty