GENESIS 3:1-7 – 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’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

THEME OF THE DAY. THE PATHWAY TO SIN. Twice the Apostle Paul would instruct believers of the need to “be smart” about our spiritual foe, the devil. To the Corinthians, he wrote – So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs (2 Corinthians 2:11). To the Ephesians – Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). In both passages, we find words pointing us to methods, tactics, and organization; “designs” and “schemes.” And like literal warfare, knowledge of an enemy is essential to victory. An uninformed Christian will be a spiritually defeated Christian.

In today’s scripture, we encounter the chief tactic of the devil against God’s people. It was used in the Garden of Eden and continues to be the “big gun” against believers today. And it centers on the Word of God. It is always the pathway to all sin committed by the Christian.

First, the pathway to sin begins with doubt of God’s Word – “Did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:1). Listen to the whispering lies of the devil tempting us to doubt God’s Word and the door is now wide open to sin. Once doubt is entertained, the next step soon follows – distortion of God’s Word. Eve did not correctly quote the Lord. She added to or distorted His Word – And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ He never said anything about touching it. We get in all kinds of spiritual trouble when we rip verses out of context, make it say what we want, or simply ignore its plain meaning because we don’t like what it demands upon us. And when we do any of those, we now have corrupted the Word of God. Sin soon follows.

The third pathway to sin is to allow temptation to distract us from the clear warnings of scripture – So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. If we entertain any temptation, we will lose awareness of God’s Presence and His Word. Then, there is no defense against sin.

Finally, the pathway to sin is complete. Doubt leads to distortion to distract to disobedience – she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. And this is always the pathway to sin of any kind. It focuses on the Word of God for the devil knows this is the life and power for the Christian. If he may tempt us to doubt this, then sin is inevitable.

PRAYER: “Father, teach me the schemes and tactics of the evil one that I might know how to fight him.”

QUOTE: “All spiritual warfare is about the Word of God requiring us to know and apply it in the war.”