It Looks Good!

September 8, 2022

It Looks Good!

We have spent a good portion of the last two months working on the landscaping around our home.  We love the outdoors and enjoy helping the flowers, bushes, and even the rocks look better. 

We have repaired some of the sprinkler system, prepared beds for spring flower planting, and re-worked a failed raised vegetable bed.  We have raked last fall’s leaves and even planted a few brightly colored flowers.

We enjoy the time outdoors.  We enjoy working together, we enjoy dreaming about the next growing season, and we enjoy the beauty of all the living things in God’s beautiful creation each day.

Except…

A few days ago, we were looking at one of our brightly colored flowers.  It was beautiful, it was healthy, and it was a joy to our eyes.  Everything was blessing upon blessing until we saw a snake skin that had been shed lying around the base of the flower. 

We were reminded that even though something looks good or someone looks attractive, it is not always good for us. 

In the book of Genesis, we are reminded of the time when Eve encountered a snake (not just a snake skin!) in a tree.  The snake convinces her to chase after the things that look good in life. 

Eve is enamored by the thought of being “like God.”  This is just another way of saying Eve was tempted by the idea of being God.  The thing that trips up Eve is not just the idea of being like God.  Eve is tempted because the thought of being God looks good.

In Genesis 2:6 we hear; “…the woman (Eve) saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise…”  It looked good, it looked delightful, and it looked desirable. 

But, not everything that looks good and beautiful is really good.  You know how easy it is to be tempted by something that looks good that is actually very bad.  Eve finds herself separated from the Lord God, separated from her husband, and separated from her true self.  It looked good, but it was not good.

There have been many times when I have been tempted to chase hard after something that looked good.  I prayed for it, I dreamed about it, and I worked hard for it.  However, I eventually discovered that it was never good for me, never the right thing for me, never what Jesus desired for me.

We all have to discern the way through what looks good but is hurtful, what sounds correct but is untruth, what feels true but is not authentic, what feels spiritual but is not from the Holy Spirit. 

Whether we are a six-year-old boy or a sixteen-year-old girl, we will be tempted by what looks good but is not. 

Whether we are a 36-year-old executive or a 75-year-old widow, we will be tempted by what looks good but is not.

Whether we are a parent of a three-year old or a grandfather of a 21-year-old, we will be tempted by what looks good but is not.

Eve reminds us that not all that looks good, looks delightful, and looks desirable is the way Jesus wants us to go or what Jesus wants us to be.  I imagine you know someone who is about to choose something that looks good.  But, deep inside your heart you know it is not good or holy.

I encourage you to sit down with your friend this week.  Share your heart and your perspective with them as well as your prayer for them.  Tell your friend that cheating on the test is not good.  Tell your friend that the affair is not good.  Tell your friend that stealing at work is not good.  Tell your friend that avoiding in-person worship is not good. 

Dare to tell your friend there just may be a snake lurking around that beautiful flower.  When you have the conversation, the Holy Spirit will fill your heart and their life with delight in the Lord’s way. 

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug

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