Romans 3:23
This is my sixth blog post on Of Paper and Light, and I want to begin by giving thanks to the Lord Almighty for His grace and His love. Every breath, every moment of strength, and every opportunity to write is a gift. Left to ourselves, we would fall, but God in His mercy continues to uphold us and guide us by His Word and Spirit. For that, He deserves all glory. Amen
For a while now, I found myself returning to certain passages of Scripture again and again. That is what happened with Genesis 3. Each time I read it, prayed over it, and reflected, something stirred that had not yet fully come into fruition.
Then one morning, I found myself in 1 Samuel 15, the account of Saul, the command God gave him through the prophet Samuel, and the choice Saul made in response. I recommend reading the entire chapter when you have the chance; it speaks for itself. Almost as confirmation, later in the day I opened Instagram, and someone I follow who serves the Lord began speaking on Genesis 3.
To some it might seem small, but in that moment it was as if God was saying, pay attention, this is what I’ve been leading you toward. That was the spark that became this reflection.
I once wrote this, in my journal once: “… seems to be enough, even when it is not.” And later: '“A little sometimes seems like enough, when you’ve had nothing for so long.” At the time, I believed it.
But what looked good enough in my eyes was not the fullness of what God desired. What seemed good was not God.
That is how quickly our hearts can be deceived by what only seems good.
When we come to believe that what merely seems good is enough, we are exchanging truth for a lie. And this is not a new struggle. From the very beginning, we see how easily truth can be exchanged for a lie. In Eden, Eve listened to the serpent, and her sight shifted.
In 1 Samuel 15, Saul measured obedience by what looked good to him, sparing what God had said to destroy. In 2 Samuel 11, David used his power to take what he wanted, redefining good on his own terms. Again and again, we see this pattern: when we exchange God’s truth for our own version of good, we are left with disobedience, sorrow, and distance from Him. Yet His Word still stands, and He alone defines what is truly good. As Scripture reminds us,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
Eve: Redefining Good by Another Voice
Genesis 3 shows us the first exchange of truth for a lie. Eve did not invent her own definition of good. She listened to the serpent twist (still a lie) what God had said, and her sight shifted. The one thing that God had declared off-limits, she now saw as desirable. Scripture says,
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6).
A lie had reshaped her vision.
Saul: Unwilling to Destroy What Looked Good
1 Samuel 15:9 holds a sobering truth:
“But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless that they utterly destroyed.”
Two things stand out. First, Saul spared what looked valuable. He even spared King Agag, when God had clearly commanded him to attack and destroy because of what Amalek had done to Israel on their journey out of Egypt (1 Samuel 15:2–3).
His eyes were fixed on what seemed good, and he measured worth by sight instead of by God’s word. Second, they were unwilling. It wasn’t that they could not obey, but that they would not. They destroyed what they despised but clung to what they desired.
This is where disobedience often falters, not in letting go of what is worthless, but in surrendering what looks too good to release. There are moments when God tells us to fully attack and utterly destroy the very thing that interrupts our way out of captivity, enslavement, or bondage.
To keep what He has commanded us to lay down is to stay tied to what He has already judged.
David: Power Calling Evil Good
The pattern continued with David in 2 Samuel 11. As king, he believed his authority gave him the right to take Bathsheba, another man’s wife. Scripture does not record Bathsheba’s voice in this account, but David’s behavior and actions imply how he used his position to summon her.
Calling for her seemed good to him, as though his power justified his desire. When she became pregnant, he tried to cover his sin by sending her husband Uriah to the front lines, ensuring his death.
His desire, disguised as good (derived from passion, position, and pride), brought devastation to his household and to the nation. What David called good was evil in God’s sight, and the consequences were felt for generations.
As Jesus said, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18).
Solomon Seeking good in Wealth & Women
Solomon, known for his wisdom, also shows us how the heart can be led astray. This is the same man who once prayed,
“Give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9).
Because he asked for wisdom and not for riches, long life, or victory over his enemies, God answered him:
“I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days” (1 Kings 3:12–13).
Yet, the very man who asked God for wisdom to lead his people later turned away from that wisdom. Scripture says,
“He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart” (1 Kings 11:3).
He gathered wealth, possessions, and pleasures beyond measure. To Solomon, this seemed good, and for a time, his kingdom prospered. But his desires pulled him away from God. The one who built the temple for the Lord ended up building altars to false gods because of the women he loved (1 Kings 11:4–8).
What Solomon sought as good, wealth, women, power became the very things that corrupted his devotion. This is what Romans 1:25 describes:
“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
Israel in the Wilderness
The story continues with Israel in the wilderness. After being delivered by God’s mighty hand—rescued from slavery, passing through the Red Sea, fed with manna from heaven—their hearts still turned back toward Egypt. They said to Moses,
“Why did you bring us out of Egypt? … We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).
They redefined good by longing for what they once had in bondage. Egypt, the place of their slavery, now seemed better in their memory than the freedom of following God in faith.
Despite seeing miracles and tasting God’s provision, their hearts preferred familiarity to trust. This is the danger of looking back, when the weight of the wilderness makes us forget the goodness of God and we long for what He has already delivered us from.
Today: Surrounded by So Much “Good”
Eve’s eyes shifted, Saul’s will resisted, David’s power justified and we are no different. Today we are surrounded by countless versions of “good”: the good of cultural acceptance, the good of personal preference, the good of what feels right in the moment, the good of human intellect. These many shades of “good” influence us, dictate our choices, and drive how we live. But not every good is God.
Isaiah reminds us,
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).
James warns that the wisdom of this world is earthly and demonic, but the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, and full of mercy (James 3:15–17).
From the beginning of creation, God alone defined what was good: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Conclusion: The Crossroads of Belief
In Genesis 3, the serpent’s strategy was not simply to tempt Eve with fruit, but to plant a competing word. She was presented with a choice: whose voice would she believe? That same choice stood before Saul, before David, before Solomon, before Israel in the wilderness and it stands before us today.
We live at the same crossroads between what appears good and what God has spoken. The question is not whether something appears valuable, desirable, or even reasonable, but whether it aligns with the Word of the Lord. Only God defines good. Only obedience to His Word leads to life.
And here is the encouragement: even when we have chosen wrongly, even when our hearts have chased what seemed good instead of God, His mercy still meets us.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), yet we are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
Where honor was lost, grace restores. Where desire deceived, Truth now delivers.
For Eve it began with an influence then a look, Saul thought his position was good enough to go over God’s command, For David, just as for Eve, it began with a look that stirred a desire. The people of Israel felt and thought Egypt was good compared to their journey to the promised land.
And today, if we feel, think, or believe something is good, we have countless avenues to feed us from it or host our feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. But His Spirit alone makes the difference.
If this met you today, take a breath and remember: grace is not distant. God is near to the humble in heart. Where we have called something “good” that is not God, we can return. Where honor was lost, it can be restored. His Word stands; His mercy invites.
A Simple Prayer
Father, search us and know us (Psalm 139:23–24).
Guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23).
Sanctify us by Your Truth, Your word is Truth (John 17:17).
Teach us to release what only seems good, and to cling to what You have called good.
Restore honor to You first, and with it the grace to honor others rightly.
Strengthen our obedience and steady our steps by Your Spirit.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Questions to Sit With This Week
What am I calling “good” that God is asking me to lay down? (1 Samuel 15:9)
Where has another voice reshaped my sight? (Genesis 3:6)
What does honoring God first look like in my next decision? (Mark 10:18)
Scriptures to Meditate On
Romans 3:23–24
Proverbs 4:23; 14:12
Genesis 3:1–6
1 Samuel 15:2–3, 9
2 Samuel 11
Matthew 24:35
John 17:17
With love,
- Jivean, Of Paper and Light
© 2025 Jivean Martinez. All rights reserved. Please do not copy, repost, or share without written permission.
