April 28 – Good Intentions (Genesis 3:1-7; Proverbs 16:25)

“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.”(Genesis 3:6)

IN WORD:
It seemed to make sense at the time. Eve was probably convinced that this way, the way of eating what was forbidden, was right. She didn’t remember (or believe) that it would lead to death. The serpent had convinced her — or politely helped her convince herself — that perhaps she had misunderstood God. Or maybe He was even holding out on them — although if God knew the full story, as she now did, He would probably allow this fruit fest. After all, it was only an attempt to enjoy His creation and learn more of it. What could be wrong with that? God wants us to enjoy His bounty and He wants us to become wise. Surely He would be OK with a little pleasure that honors His creation.
The mind games we play during our times of temptation do not seem as evil as they turn out to be. We often have good intentions, or at least we convince ourselves that we do. Forsaking the clarity of God’s Word, we embrace the fuzziness of human reasoning. Things become relative rather rather than absolute And while we maintain a sense that our motives are right, our decisions are wrong. We have determined to “do good” rather than to obey God.

IN DEED:
You know what they say about the road to hell. It is paved with the distorted, often-inactive motives of our hearts, those good intentions that aren’t so good. We must always be suspicious of them. There is usually a deep dishonesty beneath them. We have told ourselves we want to do what’s best, when in fact we really want to compromise God’s clear instructions.
The result is a dangerous illusion. We feel righteous. We think a sincere heart makes us good, and that’s a dangerous place to be. Intentions are worthless until God is the entire focus of them and we are diligent to carry them out. Determine to obey Him exclusively. Have no other desire.

“Right intention is to the actions of a man what the soul is to the body, or the root is to the tree.” -Jeremy Taylor-