This Is How Satan Deceives You

Satan's first trick to lure people into sin is to show them the bait while hiding the hook; to offer the golden cup but conceal the poison inside; to highlight the sweetness, pleasure, and benefits of giving in to sin, while hiding the inevitable suffering and misery that follow.

 

This is how he deceived the first humans. The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. God knows that when you eat the fruit, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5).

 

“You'll have your eyes opened and become like gods!” That’s the bait—the pleasure, the sweetness, the gain. But what he hides is the hook—the shame, the anger of God, and the loss that will come for sure.

 

There are two ways our eyes can be opened: the mind can be opened to joy and contemplation, or the body to shame and confusion. Satan promises the first but delivers the second. He cheated Adam and Eve, offering them an apple in exchange for paradise, just like he continues to deceive countless people today. 

That's a paraphrase from Thomas Brooks