The Process of Sin

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 12:14-25 & 2 Corinthians 11

Scripture:
"But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11

Observation:
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In this passage Paul points out that Satan's tactics have not changed at all. The way that he worked in the garden with Eve and then Adam is the same way that he works today. There were four elements to satan's strategy that day in the garden.

The sin met promised to meet a real, pure need. There is nothing sinful about being hungry. That is where satan started his attack on Eve. She first saw that it was good for eating.

The sin was delightful to the eyes. It was not something that looked nasty or evil. Evidently the tree was beautiful. It was easy to look at from a distance and its promise was intriguing.

The sin promised self-promotion. The promise satan laid out was equality to God. It appealed to making Eve greater than she was. Satan started with the weaker vessel and promised to exalt it to being equal with God.

Finally, the sin spread. Eve did not have knowledge of evil when she went to eat of the fruit. She did when she passed it on to Adam. The nature of sin cannot suffer alone it has to attack others.

Application:
I need to know where I am needy. I do not like to admit being needy, but it is crucial that I understand my longings because that is where satan will strike. He will show up at the opportune time and deliver something that promises to fulfill a real need that is currently not being met.

I need to guard my eyes. Just because something looks good does not make it good. Whether it is the eyes of my imagination or my actual physical eyes, most everything that I fall into starts with me seeing something and defining it as being good or desirable.

I need to die to myself. This is a hard one to balance. I am ambitious, tenacious, strong-willed, proactive and very aggressive in my pursuit of anything. I wake up on go and charge head first into my day. This is a great strength when I am dead to myself and seeking God. It is a horrible weakness if I am alive to my flesh and seeking my own agenda.

I need to be careful with my tongue. The sin in my life is not content to stay contained in my life. Whatever I tolerate inside myself will eventually spread to others through my tongue. My interactions with others will either advance the kingdom of God or it will advance the spread of satan's agenda.

Prayer:
Father sin is not an event; it is a process. That is the torment of it. I often spend my time dealing with the final act of sin and miss out on the fact that the process was started long ago.

I am at a place in my life right now where satan's attacks have left me longing for unmet needs. I am very vulnerable at the moment in many different areas. It feels like attacks are coming in ten ways at once. The battle is intense, my soul is weary and the days are long. There is a side of me that just wants to quit, lay down or shrink back. But the truth inside of me screams out for satan to give me his best shot. You are my defender, I am not. You are my strength, I am not. You are my way out, I am not. My life is eternally grounded in You as a son because of my faith in Christ as my Lord and Savior.

I ask that you slow me down. You alone are able to meet all my needs. Help me to seek You with them. Guard what I see today. As I walk through this earth help me to look at things only through Your vision for what they could be. Protect me today from my strengths by helping me stay dead to myself. Finally, I ask that I alone suffer for my foolish ways. Wire my mouth shut from speaking anything that is not of You.