"Inch By Inch"

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1

I want to repeat something that was said at church last night. The deacon who was teaching said: "If you give the devil an inch he'll take a mile, and he'll take it one inch at a time." He was referring to the fact that the devil doesn't always come to tempt and deceive us with the obvious, he usually comes subtly. If the devil came to me with some "big" temptation- like adultery, stealing, drugs, etc.- I would see it coming and recognize it immediately. But if he came to tempt me with something much smaller I might not recognize it so readily.

That's often how the devil works; he did in the Garden of Eden. He asked Eve a question, it put a doubt in her thoughts- he took an inch. He got her to thinking about it- he took another inch. Then he told her a lie, she believed it- he took another inch. He gave her a suggestion, she responded to it- he took another inch. Finally, after tempting her one "inch" at a time (so to speak) he took the "whole mile". She had fallen into total deception and ate in disobedience what God had told her not to eat.

Be on guard for satan's subtlety. Don't always look for "big" temptations. Be aware that he comes with just enough to "wet your appetite". He'll come with just enough to get his foot inched in the door. He comes with one small thought, one question, one suggestion, one "little fox" so that you won't recognize him and give into his temptations.

Have a great day. Satan goes about like a roaring lion- so sometimes his temptations are obvious to us. But he also comes like a serpent- in a very subtle way.