Key Verse: “Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 CSB)
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were living in perfect bliss. Everything was the way that God had intended it to be. Together, made in His image, they enjoyed perfect and intimate fellowship with God and with each other. It couldn’t have been better.
But then everything changed. The serpent showed up, “the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made” (v.1). He approached the woman with one goal in mind. He was there to deceive her and to destroy what God had created.
The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” In fact, God had not said that. Earlier, He had told the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17). The woman attempted to clarify this, but got off track, telling the serpent that they weren’t even allowed to touch the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, let alone eat it.
The serpent continued in his trickery and deceitful schemes, casting further doubt in the mind of the man and woman. He questioned what God had actually said, what He really meant by it, and what was behind it all. The end result was that both the woman and the man looked with desire to that which was forbidden by God and ate from the fruit of the tree. In that moment, sin entered the world. It was humanity’s first of countless acts of rebellion against God of which we have all been a part.
The serpent’s opening question to the woman is often where sin and rebellion begins to take root in our lives. Did God really say?” The enemy seeks to cast doubt in our minds and our hearts about the trustworthiness of God and His goodness toward us.
Did God really say that Jesus is the one and only way to Him? Did He really say that He is sovereignly at work in every circumstance of our lives? Did God really say that He always loves us and will always forgive us? Did God really say that we must forgive those who have hurt us, pray for those who persecute us, and love others selflessly at all times just like Jesus? Did He really say that? Did He really mean these things?
The answer of course is a resounding yes. David wrote, “The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad” (Psalm 19:7-8a). All that God has said is true and trustworthy.
In what areas of your life right now are you most prone or tempted to doubt God’s goodness or the truthfulness and reliability of what He has said? In what circumstances are you being tempted, like Adam and Eve were, to doubt and reject His authority?
Invite God today to grant you the faith to stand firmly on all that He has said. Pray for His protection upon you against the deceitful schemes of the enemy in your life. Declare again with faith that God’s ways are always good and right and that He has your best interests in mind.
Prayer: God, I thank you that all that you say is trustworthy and true. Guard me today from being deceived and from doubting your goodness in my life. I pray for the strength and conviction to humbly stand on all that you have said and to follow you fully. Amen.
Author: Jonathan Miller has served in pastoral roles for more than 13 years in churches in Barrie, Oakville and Burlington, Ontario. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Prison Fellowship Canada, a ministry that mobilizes and equips local churches to engage in the restorative work of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims across Canada. Jon holds degrees from McMaster University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife Adrienne have been married since 2004, and live in Burlington, Ontario with their 4 children. Jon’s greatest passion is to know Jesus and to see lives transformed by Him and for Him.
