#DailyDevotion It’s Not The Magnitude Of Who We Hurt But The Who We Sin Against That Matters
4th day of Lent Saturday
Read Gen 3:1–24
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Gen 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (14) The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. (15) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
First we ought to note how the devil works. He tries to get us to doubt God’s word and he does it by quoting God’s word. We of course don’t want to sound like dolts and so we try to reason with him, or our hearts or the person we’re talking with. You will lose if you engage beyond what God said. It is probably better to do what Jesus did and simply say, “Get behind me Satan!” And then move on.
Now look at the seriousness of what sin does. It doesn’t matter what sin, of how much you think it doesn’t really hurt you or hurt your neighbor. You are not the one to judge whether not something forbidden or commanded by God is serious or not. What did Adam and Eve do—on the surface? They ate a piece of fruit! THAT’S IT!? All this misery and death and the world is because they ate a piece of fruit?
Well no. But that is what the devil, the world and your sinful heart would want you to believe. No what brought this misery upon creation was that they DISOBEYED God and didn’t TRUST Him. You see all sin is not trusting God at his word and disobeying him. THAT is a big thing because your sinning against a BIG guy. You see, I could punch you and not much would come of it. I punch the POTUS and I land in the jail. What’s the difference? The president is more important than you. God is the most important of all. It doesn’t matter how small the offense you think it is. It is against God. That’s all that matters. The other thing we ought to note is the blame game. Adam blamed the woman and God. The woman blamed the snake and the snake didn’t have leg to stand on. Take responsibility for your own sins.
There is good news here. God promises to send a savior born of the Woman’s seed. That Woman is Mary and that Savior is Jesus. By his death at the hand of Satan, he defeats Satan by quashing his head. Trust this and God will cover you not with animal skins but the righteousness of Jesus.
Lord God, heavenly Father give us such faith in Jesus that we listen, trust and obey and ignore Satan, death and our hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.