It did not happen the day you fell into adultery, or when you realized that you no longer meditated on the Word of God. These and other examples are symptoms of a spirit that has long since weakened.

Let’s take a look at the first fall in humanity.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3.1

This was the beginning of sin on Earth. Look how subtle it was.

Satan used the smartest animal God had created. Here’s the first lesson: Watch out with those who consider themselves cunning! They are easy prey to be used by evil, because they tend to take advantage of others easily. I am not a bit proud of the fame Brazilians have for being cunning… this is one of the reasons why Brazil suffers so much corruption.

The devil’s next step was to have man distance himself from God, but Adam would not listen to him since he only had ears for Eve, the newest member of the garden. So, all he had to do was get her attention and then use her to get to Adam. He just had to make her listen to the snake and – boom! – the plan would work.

And Eve listened to the snake. Then, Adam just had to listen to Eve. Notice the common factor: Eve listened to the snake. Adam listened to Eve. And we pay for it to this day.

You started falling the day you listened to someone or a sneaky thought that came to your mind…

God will understand…

Nobody is perfect…

What’s the problem?…

I have faith to do this…

My conscience doesn’t condemn me…

Everyone sins…

It’s just today…

Just a little…

I’m only going to try it…

I won’t let myself get carried away…

I’ve always dreamed of this…

I can, after all, look how much I’ve sacrificed all my life!…

The flesh is weak…

I deserve it…

These thoughts have crossed my mind many times. I remember, not too long ago, I had just gotten back from traveling and was exhausted because I’d been rushing to do all the things that had gotten backed up the days I was away. I lay down in the afternoon, and the mental fatigue was so bad that I couldn’t rest. The alarm went off and it was time to get ready for the Wednesday night meeting.

That’s when the thought came:

“You have been working so hard that you can’t even get up from this bed. Go ahead and rest. You’ll be well rested and refreshed to continue the week. If you talk to your husband, he’ll certainly understand and even insist that you rest! You can watch the JESUS series, and it’ll be as though you attended the meeting…”

I immediately got up from the bed and all the exhaustion was gone! It’s incredible, but it happened immediately! My body reacted when I reacted to those thoughts. I went to the meeting and it was a wonderful meeting! I walked out blessed and renewed! What if I hadn’t gone? I would stop going more often, due to the same argument: exhaustion.

This is how a lot of people stopped going to church on Wednesdays. It’s late, it’s been such a busy day, there’s traffic, it’s cold, it’s raining, there are things you weren’t able to finish at work, things you still have to do at home, the series on TV… so many “reasons” that it actually makes sense not to go. After all, God is everywhere and you don’t have to be in church to seek Him.

Have you noticed how your spiritual life is before all these “plausible reasons” for not attending Wednesday meetings anymore? If I asked you what God has spoken to you lately, what would you say? What caught your attention at the last meeting you attended? What have you read on the blog recently? You’re not well, you are falling… if you don’t react soon, one day you will be so down that you won’t have the strength to react.

In faith.