solo yolo ugh

bait and switch: (noun) the ploy of offering a person something desirable to gain favor (as political support) then thwarting expectations with something less desirable

leverage: (noun) influence or power used to achieve a desired result

tempt: (verb) to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain


I just started doing The Message Solo Devotional. I am not going to necessarily focus on getting through one every day. If I feel like I need to linger on one devotional for a few days, even a week, I will. I don't want to be legalistic about this, I want to be genuine. I need to cultivate some authentic change and growth in my life, and I can't do that by following some A-B-C formula.

The first day begins with Genesis Chapter 3, the entry title "Desire for Reconciliation." I have been hung up on this entry since Monday night. For the THINK portion of the entry, it asks the question "How does this passage speak to your situation?" I couldn't answer and that really bothered me.

There are all the patent things one could say about Genesis 3. It's about disobedience, idolatry, deception, vanity, disbelief - all of which his true. But I became more interested in why the woman choose as she did. What was she thinking? What should she have done differently? Why was she so seemingly easily swayed? What lived inside her heart and mind that made the ground fertile for deception to flower? Did she resent being created second? Was all this mere suggestion on the serpents part that led her to down this road or was he merely picking up on something that was already present within her? Could the man who was with her have said something (done anything!) to guide or reassure her? Why didn't he?

I think the serpent choose to approach the woman on purpose. She's second and he goes to her first. The text doesn't say if the woman and man discussed the matter, debated the issue, listed out the pros and cons - I have a feeling they didn't. I think it was very much done in the moment, without much thinking or discussion.

The question of "How does this passage speak to your situation?" bugged me because I didn't want to see my connection to the serpent. The truth is, I've played the tempter - temptress. There are times when there is an under layer that seeks to manipulate even ever so slightly another person in the hopes of getting what I WANT or think I want.

I also didn't want to face what tempts me, more specifically what temptations I've given in to.

Instead of focusing only on the woman and man, the serpent deserves a little attention. The serpent isn't in this because he cares about the couple, nay, he hates them, he wants to see them fall. He wants the relationship between them and God to crash and burn. Not only will giving into this temptation hurt the couple, it will hurt God who made them. Their failure is God's failure for he believes God can't remedy that big an error.

"When I am tempted there is always more at stake then I realize. Temptation seeks to get us off our path and purpose. When we're tempted we think only of the thing in play - should I have this donut or look at that provocative picture - we are thinking only of the now, but there is always more at stake. There's more at stake than just that one thing.

Temptation seeks to have us meet a legitimate need, in an illegitimate way. Food, sex, respect... a voice inside says "You need it!" Maturity however is the ability to delay gratification (aka the ability to wait). Baby's can't wait; grownups can. The root of all temptation is worshiping something other than God."