I’ve been thinking about Genesis 3.

The serpent’s temptation wasn’t simply to get Adam and Eve to break a rule. It was deeper than that.

“Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1)

It’s a question that has echoed through every generation since.

What’s interesting is that Genesis 2 ends by telling us that Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame (Genesis 2:25). In Hebrew, the word for “naked” sounds a lot like the word used in the very next verse to describe the serpent as “crafty” or “shrewd.”

It’s almost as if the author is intentionally drawing a contrast.

The humans are naked, open, trusting, and vulnerable before God.

The serpent is shrewd, calculating, and questioning.

Then the conversation begins.

To be clear, questions aren’t the problem. We all have questions. Healthy faith has room for questions. In fact, some questions need to be asked. We should examine traditions, challenge bad theology, and be honest about our doubts.

But there is a difference between questioning God and putting ourselves in God’s place.

The serpent’s promise was not that Adam and Eve would stop believing in God. It was that they would become “like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).

In other words, they would no longer need to trust God’s definition of reality. They could decide for themselves.

That temptation is still with us.

Sometimes what we call deconstruction is actually a sincere search for truth. It is the painful work of separating faith from the baggage we’ve attached to it. This can lead to a healthier, deeper faith.

But sometimes it becomes something else, when the goal is no longer to discover what God has said, but to decide whether what God has said is acceptable.

The issue is not whether we ask questions. The issue is where we stand while asking them.

Do we approach God as disciples seeking understanding?

Or as judges evaluating whether His answers meet our approval?

The serpent’s invitation in Genesis wasn’t merely to doubt. It was to move the center of authority from God to self.

That’s a temptation for all of us.

And here’s the irony.

Adam and Eve sought the serpent’s shrewdness. They wanted wisdom on their own terms. They wanted God’s perspective without needing God’s guidance.

What they got instead was shame.

The story begins with humans who are naked and unashamed. It ends with humans hiding in the bushes, suddenly aware of their nakedness and scrambling to cover themselves.

The serpent promised enlightenment.

What they discovered was exposure.

The question isn’t whether we have questions.

The question is: when the questions are over, who gets the final word?

A thought to carry with you today:

Faith is not the absence of questions. It is the willingness to let God remain God even when some questions remain unanswered.