Preamble
God desires to have a thriving relationship with us. He did not just create man and put His nature in us for no reason. Part of his reasons and desire is to relate with man in such a manner that He feels ‘comfortable’ with us. He desires a relationship that soothes his mind, while it also opens us up to unprecedented blessings.
Sadly, this intention was affected through the fall. Indeed, a lot happened between Genesis chapters 1 to 6, indicating the extent of the breakaway we had from God. The actions and inactions of man made God ‘repent’ creating humans (vs 6). This was not as if He regretted creating man, but he was sorrowful about the extent of humanity’s breakaway from His expectations.
Looking closely at the Scriptures, it’s clear that there is a pattern that each other time we engage in it, it leads us away from God and make God sad. Hence, in order to be wary of falling victims of such patterns, it is important we identify such pattern and flee from such.
The Destructive Pattern
This pattern can be described as the “Look ➡️ Good ➡️ Take” pattern.
Uncontrolled or unguarded sight (Genesis 6 vs 2)
Right from the fall, one of the methods of the devil has been the use of sight. When the devil is interested in making a mess out of a man’s life, he ensures that he either makes the man see what he should see ordinarily, or on the other hand, makes sure that what the man sees is lopsided.
The devil is skilful in positioning things that attract the eyes but you can be sure such sights can never be edifying. The Scriptures has several examples of people who lost guard of their sight at various times. Some of such people were Eve, who saw the fruit in the garden as been good (Genesis 3:6); the sons of God who saw the daughters of men (Genesis 6:2); David, who saw the bathing Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:2).
In the Satan versus Jesus temptation scenario, Satan deployed his method by showing Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” (Matthew 4:8) with the intent of attracting Jesus to the point of losing direction. Of course, Jesus never fell for his antics. God gave a warning to us to be wary of lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16) which can easily drift our hearts away.
In order to guard your sight, the counsel and instructions of Jesus on having healthy sight comes in handy (Matthew 6:22-23). You should maintain a healthy sight if you do not want to be thrown into the darkness of life.
Beautiful to behold… (Genesis 6 vs 2b)
There are things you see and you run away from, if you want to go far. Such sight may be in error, and not because you are really interested or willing to see such terrible things. The eyes have a means of communicating with the brain on the need to appreciate what the eyes are seeing.
However, it is important to understand that as kingdom citizens, there are things our eyes would see in error and you dare not appreciate or look upon with a second glance. Sadly, the devil has mastered the art of making us appreciate the things we should actually run away from, even if we erroneously see them.
The idea that what you are beholding is beautiful or good to the sight soothes your ego and makes you desire to go to the next level. The son of God moved from the level of unguarded sight to the point of realizing that the daughters of men are beautiful to behold. As seen earlier, the Matriarch of humanity, Eve, also saw the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden.
However, she moved to the next phase of appreciating the fact that it was “pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 3:6b). She was quick to forget the instructions of God about the fruits in the garden, because she engrossed with an appreciation for the fruit she had been warned to stay clear of. In the same way, David realized that Bathsheba was very beautiful (2 Samuel 11:2b).
This more often than not requires a second look to realize that a person is beautiful to behold. The warnings of Christ to us in 1 John 2:16 about the lust of the flesh comes in handy in ensuring we experience victory over the possible threats of running after all that appears good. Remember that all that glitter is not gold.
Unguarded choices (Genesis 6 vs 2c)
This is the last step in the destructive pattern to avoid. This step is characterized by taking steps demonstrated in making choices that you believe is okay, without paying attention to what the authority over your life would want for you. Such choices are targeted at your pleasure. This can also be tagged self-will.
Unguarded choices may be the fall out of the deceptive thought that ‘I also have authority to do some things.’ This can be described as the pride of life (1 John 2:16), which makes a person despise authority all in the name of what soothes his ego and desire. The story of David and Bathsheba still provides an example of an unguarded and wrong choices.
David, having seen the nakedness of Bathsheba, could have ended the sinful pattern by saying no to his emotions. Sadly, he went further to gather information about her, in order to establish a relationship with Bathsheba. This act was similar to the steps that the sons of God also took.
Take Heed!
Note that when God sees this pattern in us, it spurs a reaction from God against such. Just as in the days of Adam and Eve, God also responded to the disturbing pattern that he saw in the days of Noah. His response brought distress upon the people and led large portion of them to destruction through the flood. Noah, however, found grace with God. Noah stood out and his life, without doubt, attracted the salvation from the flood.
Could you check yourself and do an evaluation on whether you are on the path of following a destructive pattern? You can always tap into the grace that flows from Christ for the enablement to be free from such a pattern. Do not wait until when God will bring the flood which can sweep the ungodly away. There is help for you today through Jesus. Shalom.
