But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
Isaiah 36:21 (NIV)
The Apostle Paul tells us, in his letter to the Corinthians, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV). I remember when I was a child, I had a little mantra that I would repeat when I was thinking about something, “should I or shouldn’t I?” This was something that I started to do around the age of 10. I’ll say that before that age I just did, or didn’t do, whatever it was that came to mind without thinking too much of the consequences. When I think back to my time as a child, I see a parallel, somewhat, to the time when I was an adult walking through the world oblivious to God.
There’s something that happens to us when we become adults. One day, we are of legal age and it seems like we take the good sense that we’ve been taught, as children, and we throw it out a window. As adults, we think that we know it all. We tell our parents, “thank you, I’ve got it from here” and then go off and do our best, in our newfound freedom, to wreck our lives. Our thought processes change from, “should I or shouldn’t I” to “why not? I’m an adult now.” Eventually, I believe that we do what we want because we think we can.
In the book of James, we are reminded that “it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (James 4:17 NLT). As Christians, we might tell ourselves, and other people, that we need to “pray about it” before we decide on something. Often, when we tell someone that, I think what we’re really saying is no. If you’re married or in a relationship you might tell someone that you have to ask your partner about it. I’m sure that sometimes we do pray about it or ask our husband or wife. However, I think that too often we’re just trying to move away from the responsibility of making a decision.
When we sit on the fence, between right and wrong, as Believers, we’ve lost the battle if we give an ear to evil. When sin comes into our lives its job is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). We don’t engage the Devil in conversation. We don’t want to be like Eve, in Genesis, who was fooled into doing wrong.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ ”
Genesis 3:1-6 BSB
The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
Some people think that Eve lied to the serpent when she told it that God had said to not touch the tree in the middle of the Garden. However, I believe that Eve revered God so much that she thought of the tree as completely off limits. Don’t eat from it and don’t even touch it. If Eve had smashed the head of that serpent under her foot, we’d not be here today. Instead, she engaged it in conversation. We cannot reason with evil. We cannot invite it in to have tea. We may live in a dark world but we don’t fellowship with it.
We know that God has the victory but on our own, we cannot stand against Satan and his schemes. “Even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 1:9 NIV).
As Believers, we know that Satan has been defeated (Colossians 2:15). Just as the Jews listened to Hezekiah, and didn’t engage the Assyrian Commander, we need to trust our King and leave our battles to the Lord, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Do you know God? God knows you and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so that we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.
Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.
Four-Calendar Café 