We get sold stuff every single day. It is said that the average person sees 10,000 ads a day. Think about it. You turn on the computer you see ads, you go to a news website you see ads, you turn on your phone and see ads, check your email and ads are there too, get in the car and drive and you see ads every billboard and every sign. We face a deluge of ads.
The purpose of every ad is to create doubt, insecurity and then to come swooping in with the answer. Just buy this and your life will be better.
That’s exactly what the devil does in Genesis 3.
Step 1: Place a seed of doubt.
“Did God really say…”
While people may recoil at first, that seed of doubt, if left unchecked can grow. It’s what we all face on a regular basis.
‘Your sleep is more important than knowing what God says.’
‘The things you do are more fun and more worth your time than prayer and connecting with God.’
‘It really isn’t all that bad in God’s eyes. He is love and He is grace.’
‘Nobody will know.’
Step 2: Question the character and motive of the other side.
“You will not surely die…for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened.”
This happens all the time in a society and world that is divided. Question the other person, the other leader, the other political party, the other nation.
It looks like showing conversations and events out of context.
It looks like accusing the other of bad motives:
‘They’re in it for the money.’
It looks like saying that they are not in it for your best interests.
Step 3: Be near to the temptation/Create discontent for what you have/Compare
This is perhaps the easiest. Just be “near” that which is desirable. Need a young man (or old) to trip up? Put him near a beautiful woman. Need a woman to trip up? Put her near something financial that provides security and provision and point out her lack.
We all stumble in our desire for money, sex, power and belonging. That’s it. Just put someone near any of these and if we stand nearby long enough, we typically will fall. The devil knows this.
The devil is a good salesman. And it is still true today.
- Place the seed of doubt.
- Question the character and motive of the “other” side.
- Be near to the temptation to create comparison/discontent with what you already have.
So how do we combat this? We reverse the script.
- Run far away from those things that tempt us.
2. Know and affirm our faith in the character of God, especially when it gets hard.
3. Confront doubts head on, study an understand. Rebuke doubts with truth.
It’s our choice. Not the devil’s.
