The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 3:1-7, “Now the serpent was craftier than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3 but from the fruit of the tree, which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'”

4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

Each of us was created with five human senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. I expect it would take scores of pages to list and evaluate each of their meanings. What we do know, however, is that each gift, beautiful and meaningful, is for the benefit of our well-being and the preservation of our lives; gifts from Almighty God.

Satan is a liar; thus, the ultimate adversary of our LORD becomes our adversary, too. He works tirelessly to twist these God-given gifts into experiences contrary to what the LORD intended. Sight and hearing are doubtlessly the most devastating when used outside the purpose of the LORD. Multiple experiences listed in Scripture demonstrate how the misuse of these gifts leads mankind into evil and ultimately the destruction of what God intended.

It would be foolish (and giving way to Satan) to seek to list the negative aspects of just seeing and hearing. We all know what they are – a slippery slope away from the warm and loving intention of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s sufficient for us to stay alert and away from the slough of despondency that would bring us down. Play it smart! Use what the LORD has invested in you to bring honor and glory to His Name. In the end, you’ll be glad that you did. Maranatha!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need, until He becomes all that we have.” –Corrie ten Boom