It’s the oldest trick in the book, and still one of the primary tactics of the enemy:

“Did God really say…?” (Gen. 3)

Ever since the Garden, Satan has been stirring up this kind of suspicion. After all, if he can get us to doubt God’s Word, we’ll be more likely to disobey it… and eventually to defy God altogether. Today, American culture echoes that same old calculated question.

Except for now, the messaging is much more decided and insistent:

“There is no such thing as truth.”

“Whatever feels good, do it.”

“Look within to find the guidance you need.”

The enemy wants to make us feel silly for submitting to God’s Word. He wants us to believe God is holding out on us, and that we’d be better off if we took control. Why? Because his goal has always been our death and destruction.

Don’t buy the lies! Following your heart is a reckless path to ruin. Serving yourself will actually enslave you. Chasing pleasure and independence won’t lead to the good life. Only fools build their lives on that kind of sinking sand.

But wisdom rejects that narrative, that lie. Wisdom opens God’s Word and submits to His ways. It knows that the moral compass inside each of us is flawed, and that we need a Source outside of ourselves to direct our lives. Wisdom understands that living under God’s authority is the secret to freedom and flourishing. (John 8:31-32)

Our God can be trusted. His authority isn’t power hungry but perfect in love. He’s not out to control us but to keep us from harm.

“Did God really say…?”

Oh yes. Every word of God proves true. And good thing, because His way is the good life!

PRAY

Read Matthew 7:24-27 again and ask God to show you where you are walking in wisdom, and where you are foolishly believing that you know better. Ask for His help in your own life. And pray that we would be a church that rejects cultural pressures and clings to the truth.