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HELEN SANDERS
3-13-2026
PLEASANT TO THE EYES
There are many different kinds of fruit that grow in Florida. Besides grapefruit, oranges, lemons, limes there are many varieties of melons. I have grown watermelon and cantaloupe and they are so tasty.
When I first moved to Florida in the early 1970’s I would take rides and would see what appeared to be watermelons in cow pastures. I was surprised to see so many and wondered why they weren’t picked. Then I learned that even though they looked tempting to eat, they weren’t edible. They were the citron. They were what I would call pleasant to the eyes, but bitter fakes. No one, including animals, eats them.
Sin is like this. It looks pleasant to the eyes. In Genesis 3:6 Adam and Eve saw the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and it looked “pleasant to their eyes” and rather than listening to God, they listened to the deceptive words of Satan and they ate it; and we all know the bitter ending to that story. Their sin brought death to mankind.
This is the way sin is. Without knowing it, we are seduced into taking that bite. The temptation because it looks pleasant to the eyes, entices us, but when we take the bite there is always the bitter aftertaste left.
How can we know the real from the counterfeit? It may come by experience, but mainly it comes from those that have already learned the truth. This is why God has placed godly leadership in the church to teach and to equip the saints, so they will not be fooled by the “fake things” that Satan tempts us with. The Bible is our rule book. We learn from it about all areas of our lives that we deal with. We learn what is good and what is not good.
The Israelites were tempted time and time again to go with “strange gods” that looked appealing, but their sin caused them to go into captivity. When we read what they went through we may often wonder why they did not learn their lesson the first time. The reason is that Satan will always put something that looked “pleasant to the eyes” on their path. He never quits.
He does the same with us. If he cannot trap you one way, he will trap you another. This is the reason we are told to put on the armor of God. Ephesians 6: 11 says, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (tricks, cunning devices) of the devil.” Without the armor, which is Jesus, who is the word of God made flesh, we do not have a chance. We would pick the bitter citron and bite it thinking it was good. Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit and warns us of the traps. Even though many things look pleasant to the eyes, we must avoid these things at all costs if we are to walk in integrity and righteousness. Do not believe that everything you see is good for you, my friends. Ask God before taking that first bite.
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