All of the Devil’s Apples Have Worms
For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not from the Father but from the world.
1 John 2:16
Satan tempts us through our worldly sinful nature; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 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) Satan tempted Eve by twisting the truth, activating Eve’s prideful nature, because the fruit was pleasing to the eye and good for food. But the fruit had a worm in it called sin and sin separated Adam and Eve from God. All of Satan’s temptations contain a worm called sin.
How do we overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life? Or, rather, how do we overcome the sinful nature? And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9) Christians can be deceived by Satan, as he tempts us to believe “the apple” is pleasing to God. Consequently, we believe there is no worm. We justify partaking, and as we continue in our justification, eating more and more deeply, eventually we find the worm. But, hopefully, we find the worm before this life is over and it’s too late to receive forgiveness. When we find the worm we realize that what we had been justifying was not pleasing to God. We were blinded by our own prideful desires and simply could not see the worm.
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14) Satan, masquerading as an Angel of Light, tempts Christians with things that are pleasing to the eye and to the flesh. Satan tempts us with things we can easily justify. His goal is to gently lead us away from God and to reduce our sensitivity to the Spirit’s conviction. We think there is no worm in the apple because we don’t recognize the apple as coming from the Devil. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3). Are we justifying there is no worm because we lack pure devotion to Christ?
Today, protect yourself from the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Satan can use these things to easily pull us in the wrong direction. When tempted, go to the Spirit and ask God for the wisdom to distinguish whether or not there is a worm in this apple.
Let’s Pray: Lord, in every apple I encounter, give me the wisdom to know if there is a worm inside. Life is filled with apples and Satan twists the truth to fill us with worms. Help me to overcome the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Keep me humble, focused on you and not focused on myself. In Jesus’ name, Amen.