“I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3
In Genesis, what did the enemy deceive Eve to do? He convinced here to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
So much teaching and preaching today is all about doing good, trying your best for God, behaving well, living a Godly life. But that misses the whole point! Why? Because a focus on morality comes from the same tree as evil.
If our focus is on good behavior – or on bad behavior – we are still eating from the wrong tree – the same tree from which the enemy convinced Eve to eat.
What is the enemy trying to do? Is he trying to get us to focus on “evil desires?” No. You see, he would be just as happy if we were focused only on “good desires” without hearing from the voice of Christ. Why? Because it is not about our behavior – good or bad – it is about our heart. It is about being “corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
So what is that simplicity?
It is eating from the OTHER tree – the Tree of Life! It is leaning into Jesus with all our heart, soul and mind, loving Him and loving others. And it is not worrying about any behavior – good or bad – because we are letting Him work all that out in each of our lives. Does that sound simplistic? Good, it is supposed to.
Remember, the is the goal of the enemy is to come against the simplicity that is in Christ. It is NOT the enemy’s goal to get you to sin! He would be just as happy if you did good that is absent from Christ – as long as you are eating from the wrong tree. Because when you do, you miss it! You miss the joy, freedom, fullness and life that comes from a simple relationship and intimacy with God.
For more about this, click here to read “A Tale of Two Trees”
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