Women: Not Mr. Right But Mr. Snake!
The snake that lived in the Garden of Eden can be found in your garden. Eve failed to see him as a danger for that old snake was looking good! He had a form of godliness without power - unless you consider deception to be power. His words captivated Eve when he promised her knowledge and a chance to be like God.
Imagine Mr. Snake slithering along your path. Given the chance, his venom would paralyze you. Once you were under his power, he would hope to crush out your life and then swallow you whole. YIKES!
But what if you've already been bitten? What's the antidote? Actually, it's this: Turn from your sin.
2 Timothy 3:6 says: "For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses." In other words, that snake in your garden gets his power to capture you from the snare of your very own sin.
Did you know that the first sin was committed not by Eve, but by God's most beloved angel, the fallen angel we know as that old serpent Lucifer? Lucifer, reputedly the former director of the heavenly choir, first deceived himself by thinking he could be like God. However, his own deception got him kicked out of heaven when he lost the war he staged against God and his angels.
It's not surprising that he used the same "be like God" line on Eve in the Garden of Eden. Though the wages of sin is death, that old snake told Eve that if she disobeyed God, she would be like God. However, when Eve bit into sin, her eyes were indeed open. She could see that her sin had separated her from God.
The same thing happens today. For Timothy, in the third chapter of his second book said, and I paraphrase, "Though silly women forever study, they never learn the truth."
The truth is Jesus Christ gives us power over sin. For Jesus, the Son of God, defeated sin by living a sinless life. Then He died for our sin. In so doing, He took our punishment so we would no longer be separated from God. Finally, He defeated sin and death through his resurrection. When we believe and receive Jesus' gift of grace we can know God.
Don't be deceived by allowing yourself to be lulled into living a sinful life. For though Jesus paid for your sin, only you can choose to turn from it. Otherwise, you will allow that old snake the power to take you captive.
Yes, receive God's forgiveness, but then live for Christ. When you fall and sin, repent and get up. Keep living for God. When you do, that snake in your garden will not have a voice to deceive you. You will be free to be the powerful woman God created you to be. When you discover God's grace and break though the deception of sin, amazingly, that's when you are most like Him after all.
http://www.righttotheheart.com/
Originally published January 28, 2004.
