Did God Really Say...?

When God told Adam and Eve "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die" (Gen 2:17),  Satan did not begin by directly challenging God's Word, instead, he placed a seed of doubt in Eve's mind: "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 2:18.  That was enough to get her to begin to open her mind to question what God had directed and from there rebellion sprang.

He hasn't changed his tatics.  God tells you not to murder but did he really say not to abort the baby growing in your womb?  God said that from the beginnng He made us male and female and "for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (Matt 19:5) but did he really say that a man was not to marry a man or a woman marry a woman?  God said "do not get drunk on wine" (Eph 5:18) but did he really say to not get high on Marijuana?

There are any number of ways to insert this seed of doubt so that it grows into fruit of rebellion, tempting us to do what what a simple reading of God's Word would plainly tell us not to do or refusing to do what is plain he asks of you.  God said "go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" (Mk 16:15) but did he really say that I ought to share my faith with friends and family?  He said, "do not forsake the assembly" (Heb 10:25) but did he really say I ought to attend church services?  Take anything God said to do or not do, add "did he really say...?" and the foundation to resist God's will begins to be built.

The foundation of disobedience is doubt - doubt that God really meant what he said or that he really said it with you or your situation in mind.  It begins with our desire to do or not do something and then to revisit God's Word using a lens of personal desire instead of devotion.  Clear communication from the Father becomes muddle messages when we listen through the filter of "I want" instead of "I ought."  We take the light of what we ought and bend it through the prism of what we want, asking "Did God really say...?"

Start with the desire to follow God above self, to make His will your reality.  Then go to His Word and read it with eyes of God's desire rather than your own.  Ask God to make new lenses for you that are free from the discoloraton of personal prejudice and desire, lenses that are clear and able to see his unadulterated Word.  Let us work to bend our will instead of bending His Word.  Jus' Say'n.