There are consequences for looking down and away from God as we walk through life. Part of satan’s strategy is to distract us, so we take our eyes off the Lord. Then we are more easily deceived. Satan placed doubt in Eve’s mind about God’s instruction not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden. Looking at the fruit, Eve saw that the tree was beautiful; its fruit looked inviting, and she wanted the wisdom it would give. As Eve continued to look away from God, the temptation was too much, and she ate the fruit she was commanded not to.
We can fall into the same trap Eve fell into when we look away from God and His wisdom. Our enemy always offers false hopes and claims to pull us down. When we look up to God, the Holy Spirit warns us of danger and gives guidance. The sound of danger from the Holy Spirit can snap us out of the fog the enemy uses to blind us.
The World Has a Current
If you have ever canoed on a river, you will soon discover it has a current. If you don’t paddle, you will drift along with the flow. Life is like that. The world has a current that works on us to take us away from God. As we look down, the world’s current will lead us away from the Lord.
To look up to God is to paddle against the current, moving your boat forward. Like a canoe on a river, you are moving forward or backward in life, not just sitting still. Going with the flow of the world has consequences. Adam and Eve disobeyed God when they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They fell into sin because they were looking down and away from God.
God Warns Us For a Reason
God did not want Adam and Eve to fall into sin and gave them instructions not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they disobeyed, there were consequences. Genesis 3:16 Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” 17 And to the man, he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life, you will struggle to scratch a living from it. 18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. [1]
Is the Holy Spirit calling you to look to Him today for guidance? Like Adam and Eve, the Lord gives us boundaries for a reason: He does not want us to suffer the consequences of choices that lead to sin. This is one of my favorite verses about looking to God to avoid enemy traps. Psalm 25:4 Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. 5 Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. [2] The next time the enemy temps you, listen to the voice of the Spirit, who will call you to look up to God.
To learn about the consequences for looking down, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-fall
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ge 3:16–18). Tyndale House Publishers.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ps 25:4–5). Tyndale House Publishers.