So What's Your Apple?

"When we bought the Enemy's lie in the beginning and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Satan hissed then that we'd really see and know what is good and evil.  But the Father of Lies, he'd duped us in the whole nine yards.  Though we ate of that tree, we did not become like God."  

--Devotion 52, Storm Grace from Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts Devotional"

And there it is.  From the beginning of time, Satan has been dangling our greatest cravings and addictions in front of us, showing us how good they taste, how good they feel, and then dropping it at our feet for us to devour.  He's been lying to us to inflate our egos, to build up our selfishness and pride, and enhance our jealousies.  (I could go on here, but I'll just leave you with the first three that came to mind.)

Satan never REALLY gives us what we want, though.  That is it.  That is THE point of all of this.

When God created us, He had a plan for His greatest creation, and that was to "be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28)," taking care of the land and everything in it that He also created.  Not only that, but He provided for our every need.  He gave us EVERYTHING, but still, Eve wanted more...we want(ed) more.  She looked on her Creator and wanted everything He had, including the knowledge of good and evil.  And Satan found his in.

Genesis 2, verses 16 and 17 says, "And the Lord God commanded the man saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'"

Satan makes Eve question God, asking her if God actually said they couldn't eat of any tree, pointing out that she might be missing out on something good.  (Really?! Like Satan has something BETTER to offer us than THE KING OF KINGS?!)  If you can eat of some, why can't you eat the rest?  And then he comes in for "The Kill" when he says, "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 (Genesis 3:4-5)."  Bingo.  He hit her right in her weakest spot, just like he likes to hit us in our weakest spots.

So Eve ate it.  She took the bait and took a bite.

Being someone that is a discretional eater (some might call this "picky"), I have not had a wide variety of fruit in my day, but I can say I've had the BEST strawberries in the world.  Fresh strawberries from Moldova will literally MELT. IN. YOUR. MOUTH.  Even as good as those were, and imagining what fruit MUST have tasted like in that Garden all those years ago, I can not fathom that the apple tasted good enough to face all that came after.

And what was Eve left with after that one tasty bite?  Pain, embarrassment, separation from God...  Once again, I could go on here, but we can keep it short and assume one thing, Eve was NOT satisfied after eating that fruit, not from the taste, and certainly not from what was promised to her.  She did not get what she wanted, nor did she get what she thought she would.

That's how Satan fights.  HE gets what HE wants when we fall into his traps and temptations, believing what he has to offer us is good and fulfilling.  He is satisfied when we feed our addictions, when we try to satisfy our cravings, when we become prideful and arrogant, when we operate from our selfish desires, and when we react to the jealousy we have burning in our hearts.

I've got a lot of apples that Satan likes to dangle in front of my face.  He makes them look enticing and juicy with all kinds of promise that can come from one bite, and each time I take a bite, I'm left less satisfied than before.

"But I have come..."  We aren't left to wallow in our sin or fight pointless battles that we will never win against the King of Deceit.  We have a Savior who came to give us life, and not just life, but ABUNDANT life.  All those empty promises that the Father of Lies dangles in front of us can't even compare to the life God has in store for us.

We have to learn to correct our focus.  When the devil dangles your apple of choice in front of you, you have shift your focus so that you can see what he is really offering you.  (Like getting that one last dig in to your husband in your latest argument is going to leave you feeling satisfied and empowered, it's going to leave you feeling disconnected and full of regret.)  We have to shift our focus to the true gifts of the Father and the abundant life that He offers us.  I'm pretty sure we'll be amazed with the orchards full of delicious apples He has for us!