It’s no surprise to me that Satan took the form of a snake. (My apologies to the snake lovers out there.) Snakes are horrible creatures and its fitting that this reptile is somehow involved in the fall of mankind.
Genesis is one of those books that just kind of blows your mind at every page turn. Trying to envision what the creation of the world looked like. What did God think about when he created humans? Imagining what it was like to live in the Garden of Eden. No guilt. No shame. No pain. We haven’t experienced a day without those things.
I sometimes think that Eve was ridiculous and Adam was weak when I look at “the fall.” They were in paradise. They wanted for nothing. And yet a snake, was able to put forth an idea that caused them to disobey God. So dumb.
And yet here I am, wrestling with the same sins over and over. I know Jesus. I live in a paradise compared to 95% of the world. And I’m still not sure that I am good enough. The lie isn’t that I am (because none of us are) good enough, but that I don’t have to be. There isn’t anything that I can do to earn my way. There isn’t anything I can do that will make God love me more.
And that reminds me that I need to do a better job of loving others. Why? Because each of us have something that we are struggling with. “The fall” has had lasting consequences on each of us. Guilt. Shame. Pain. We need to help each other to remember how God sees us. We need to help each other decipher the lies. We need to help each other put down the apple.
Do you have a sin that you are wrestling with over and over? What is the apple that you keep reaching for? What can we do for each other to make the truth about who we are and how we’re made easier to see, and stronger than the lies we are told? Who, in your life, can you help?
Lisa Adams,
Director of Missions and Care
Living Out Love 