Snakes & Crafts
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Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The devil is crafty. That means he does not usually show up with a red face and a pitchfork announcing his evil plans. He shows up sounding reasonable. Almost right. Close enough to feel true.
There are plenty of questions in Genesis 3, like, “Why is Eve casually talking to a snake?” And why is Adam standing there like this is totally normal?
But instead of getting distracted by the strange details, notice the strategy. The serpent does not begin with an obvious lie. He begins with a question. “Did God really say…?” He takes something God actually said and slightly twists it.
That is craftiness.
Craftiness is like arts and crafts. You take different pieces and glue them together to make something new. The devil does the same thing. He takes pieces of truth and glues them into a lie.
And if he could deceive someone in a state of sinlessness, imagine how much more carefully we need to pay attention.
We do this too. We say something technically true to a teacher, parent, or friend, but we use that true sentence to hide the part they are really asking about.
The enemy uses truth for the wrong purpose.
Today, listen carefully to your words and your thoughts. Are you telling the whole truth, even when it costs you? When you feel tempted to hide behind something that is “technically true,” choose honesty instead.
You do not defeat a crafty lie by being clever. You defeat it by being truthful.