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Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” -Genesis‬ ‭3:4-5‬ ‭(NKJV‬‬)

…and so it began: the temptation and the fall. The world got a lot more complicated as soon as Adam and Eve chose to not trust in what God had already told them, but to disregard His words and heed what seemed to make more sense at the time.

Sin complicates everything.

Before sin appeared, there was no illness or death. There was only the bliss and simplicity of living in obedience to God. But after the fall, the world was beset with pestilence and violence, and men did indeed die–just the opposite of the enemy’s lie.

And as every single one of us can attest, it’s when we take the path that, at the time, seems more appealing, that path will lead to painful consequences and difficulty. Things get a lot more complicated.

The great news for believers is that we have a loving God who drowns our sins in His sea of forgetfulness (as Casting Crowns puts it in their excellent “East to West”), so we can simplify our lives again by following Him. And when we follow Him, the path straightens right up!

We can simplify any time we want to by stopping in our tracks, praying and listening to the Holy Spirit, confess our sins to the Lord, and repent (turn away from our old path and take a new path). If you’re like me, you can get sidetracked often, so you may need to stop often to get back on track. God’s mercy and forgiveness is greater than our stumbles!

God wants us to walk with Him, and it’s a far simpler, straighter walk when we don’t complicate it by taking detours, isn’t it?

Today’s soundtrack

Third Day’s “Revelation” asks God to show us how to get on the right path again, after too much wandering away from it.