Pay Attention

My Ben holding his pet snake, Sam (until she laid 20 eggs and became Samantha)
summer 1990

Now the serpent was more crafty 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?'' 

The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, 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.'"

The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!"  (Genesis 3:1-4)

Yesterday, I read Genesis chapter 3 and was reminded that the old serpent's goal was to get Eve to doubt God, and his strategy was lying. At church last night, the preacher taught that the devil doesn't want our stuff, he's after our faith in God; and I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, "Jill, pay attention, pay attention."

In the New Testament, before Jesus taught an important principle, He often prefaced that truth with verily, verily or truly, truly, i.e. pay attention, pay attention. 

Beloved, what has God told you more than once lately? Pay attention! Pay attention! 

Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24)