Don’t Be Deceived

Hi, and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading, titled Don't Be Deceived, was written by Allison Keita. The spotted lanternfly is a pretty insect, with speckled outer wings and a splotch of bright red on its inner wings that flashes when it flies, but its beauty is a bit deceptive. This insect, first seen in the U.S. in 2014, is considered invasive to North America, which means it has the potential to harm the environment and economy.

The lanternfly will eat the innards of practically any woody plant, which includes cherry and other fruit trees, and leaves a sticky goo that leads to mold, killing trees outright or leaving them with little energy to grow fruit. In the story of Adam and Eve, we learn of a different kind of menace. The serpent, Satan, deceived the couple into disobeying God and eating the forbidden fruit so they would be like God.

But why listen to a serpent? Did his words alone entice Eve, or was there also something attractive about him? Scripture hints at Satan being created beautiful, yet Satan fell by the same temptation he used to entice Eve, saying, I will make myself like God. Any beauty Satan now has is used to deceive. Just as he fell, he seeks to pull others down or keep them from growing.

But we have someone far more powerful on our side. We can run to Jesus, our beautiful Savior. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 through 7. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked.

So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Let's pray. God, help us to not let ourselves be deceived by Satan's lies, no matter how enticing it might seem. Help us to see the world through spiritual eyes, so that we don't fall prey to the sin that can so easily trap us. Thank you for giving us the power to say no, even when the pressure to say yes is so great. We love you, Lord Jesus. In your name we pray, amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.