Key Verse: Verse 1 - “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?””
Key Words: Ye
In our Scripture reading for today, you find thirteen personal pronouns. No doubt Satan’s plan was to get Adam and Eve to focus on themselves; and in doing so, they would be rendered ineffective in doing the will of God.
Well, Satan’s plan has never changed. You see this throughout the Word of God. This is the primary reason that we face the challenges and difficulties we face today in our families – because we fall for Satan’s plan, and we focus on us and on our family rather than on God and God’s will.
As you study the Word of God, you will find that the world and the flesh pull us toward a life of selfishness while God directs us toward a life of selflessness. We read in Matthew 16:24-25, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
But let me caution you that the self-centered life will always come back to haunt you. All you have to do is look at the result of focusing on self in the lives of Adam and Eve, Achan, David, Uzziah, and others to see that, while Satan paints a beautiful picture of a life of selfishness, it always ends in tragedy.
The first time I visited the Great Salt Lake, I was sorely disappointed. It was dirty, had a foul odor, and was lifeless. The pastor I was with informed me that the reason the lake was in such a putrid plight was because it had inlets but no outlets. So it is with our lives and the lives of our families if all we do is focus on self.
We, as well, will end up dirty, full of worldly odor, and lifeless in God’s service. Let me encourage you to spend your life in God’s service, focusing on Jesus and others; and you will then have the sweet smell of selflessness.
✞ Start focusing on others by...
Witnessing daily,
Helping a church member in need (mow a lawn or rake leaves for a senior saint),
Bake cookies for a shut-in,
Visit Children’s Hospital, and
Pray for others.
