Stand Taller

There was once a conversation that changed the entire course of human history. This is how it went:

“Did God really say you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?” the Serpent, an extremely crafty and deceptive creature, asked Eve, the first woman God created, in the Garden of Eden.

“We can eat fruits from the trees in the garden, but God did say not to eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden” Eve answered.

This simple, almost harmless, conversation led to the ultimate downfall of man and his eviction from the Garden of Eden. I often wonder what the result of this conversation would have been if it had gone something like this:

“Did God really say you should not eat from any tree in the Garden?”

“Ask God.”

Period.

But by responding to his question, Eve helped the serpent introduce his deadliest weapon: doubt.

God established the whole creation—the earth and everything in it—on the foundation of faith. The serpent knew that by asking Eve if God really meant what He said, he would make her question her absolute faith and doubt God.

I imagine that in that moment, for a split second Eve considered the question. 

“Did God really say that? He never said that to me at least. He told Adam, and Adam told me, so I can’t say for sure that God said it or meant it.”

The serpent, sensing his opportunity, continued his suggestion: 

“You will not die; God knows that if you eat of the tree you will be like Him, knowing good and evil.” 

Final stroke delivered. He made God a liar, which crushed Eve’s entire faith in Him.

Fast-forward into this century. Everywhere you go, you find distortions of God’s truth and commands. We see values being eroded and replaced by some semblance of societal acceptance. You see people living lifestyles we once considered to be wrong. In our time, the only way to counter this faith-destroying attitude is to stand strong, holding onto what we have always known and believed to be the truth:  the word of God.

Every time a question or suggestion, an advertisement or political stance, a movement or group stands up to question our faith, we need to stand taller and counter its stance with the truth written in the Bible.

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