August 30th, 2026
Scripture – “The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
Genesis 3:2-7 NIV
Observation – Adam and Eve decided to follow their own selfish desires and not listen to God because the serpent told them that God was holding out. He put the thought in their minds that things could be better in paradise if only they had more freedom and could decide what was acceptable for themselves.
Application – Isn’t this how it starts for us? We know God’s commands and expectations but there is something inside of us that says, “I’m missing out” or “this isn’t really that big of deal” or “if I could just do this I would be happier and it isn’t even close to as bad as what other people do”. There is a game we played when I was young called Chutes and Ladders. If you landed at the bottom of a ladder you got to climb higher, closer to winning the game. If you landed on a chute, you slid down further away from victory. Our life is like this game. Every decision we make brings us closer to holiness or takes us further away. When we choose to gossip, lose our temper, trust in money instead of God or indulge in immorality we land on a chute and it takes us away from God. When we trust and obey we land on a ladder that brings us closer to Jesus.
Prayer – Lord Jesus, give us hearts that trust you so much that we don’t even think of disobeying because our greatest desire is to please you. Amen.
What are you doing? Do it better 