Fruit Salad and a Fork

I'm back to the basics this morning. Back to the beginning...Genesis that is. It's neat to me how we can read the same verse several times in our life and God sheds something new each time we read it! Well, He's done it again and I want to share it with you. 

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'?"...Genesis 3:1. First of all, take note that Satan has disguised himself as a serpent at the beginning of this verse. He is the master of disguise. He makes things APPEAR different because of his evil craftiness. He was there to tempt Eve and she took his bait hook, line and sinker!  He wasn't some little red devil looking thing with horns and a pitchfork, in this story, he was a serpent. In our stories, he is sometimes a friend, a man, a woman, a co-worker...the list could go on forever. He disguises himself as "good" when he is really out for evil. 

 And He is great at adding and taking away words to a story: He said to the woman, "Did God REALLY say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?...when in fact God said in Genesis 2:16-17 "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."  Satan wanted to make it APPEAR that they couldn't eat from ANY tree in the garden with his crafty words. Because of the words Satan planted in her mind, Eve fell for the bait. 

So how many times have WE fell for the bait or even worse, have WE played the role of the serpent by adding to or taking away words from a story as to entice someone to view another person or situation in a negative light?  We may tell a story and put a little spin on it that manipulates the person we are talking to believing something about a fellow brother or sister in Christ that is not entirely true. 

We all know how this story ends because we live in that fallen world but we certainly don't have to add to the misery of it. Temptation is Satan's invitation to give in to his kind of life and give up on God's kind of life but we can RSVP to Satan's invitation with a N.O. We have to resist the urge to travel the path with him with lies and schemes and stories. 

And that was just the beginning of sin. Eve had no idea her one little sin would or could have such an impact on the world today and I don't think we do either. One little twisted story can bring down a family, a church, a town or a nation. Let's not fall for the bait from the evil one...let's build up others instead of tearing them down. Let's live for God and H