Ring around the Rosie, pockets full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

You’ve heard this nursery rhyme—it’s a cute song that little kids sing when they go in circles and then fall to the ground, laughing and then scrambling to do it again.

But most people know that it’s alluding to the Black Death, or the bubonic plague.

1. Ring around the rosie: a reference to a ring-shaped rash, which was a symptom of the plague
2. Pockets full of posies: referring to the flowers that were supposed to ward off the smell of death
3. Ashes, ashes: plague victims’ bodies being burned
4. We all fall down: and…alluding to death.

So obviously, it’s kind of dark. (And no, we don’t know for sure if that’s what the rhyme is alluding to, but it’s a good assumption.)

Anyways.

Kids sing this song, unaware of what the words mean. And it makes me think of what we often do today: sing songs (or say things) that have double meanings.

But what I’m mostly talking about is believing things that have double meanings.

Let’s start at the beginning. As in, the VERY beginning: Genesis 1.

God created the earth, and in the next chapter, he creates a man and a woman who live in the garden. Now, he gives these people one rule: don’t eat fruit from this single tree, the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But a snake—who is the devil in disguise—sneaks into the garden and tells the woman, Eve, something. He basically says, “God lied—you’r not going to die if you eat it, but instead, you’re going to be equal to God.”

This sounds pleasing, and so the woman takes a bite of a fruit from the forbidden tree and she shares it with her husband, Adam. But then both their eyes are opened and life is no longer perfect. They realize how human they are and how imperfect they are.

And they are ashamed.

I won’t go any further, as I’m sure most of you have read or heard this story several times. But I want to look at what the devil tells Eve. First, he asks her a question.

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 NIV)

Eve explains what God had said and then he says this: ‘“You will not certainly die. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5 NIV)

He implies that God is selfish, only thinking of himself. But really, this is a lie. However, the snake used truth to twist his words into seemingly true falsehood.

Yes, God knew that when we would eat from the fruit, our eyes would be opened. But that’s not something God was afraid of for his own sake, but rather for our sake. The last half of the sentence is false! We are not like God—God is holy and set apart. That’s part of the reason Jesus was sacrificed: to become like a bridge between us and God so that we may have connection with God. And it’s only sometimes that we know good and evil.

You see, the snake/devil will take truths and make them so that they fit his agenda. Here are some examples:

Lie #1: Your body is ugly and messed up.

Truth #1: Your body is imperfect, it’s a human body. You will have scars, you’ll have mistakes, but your body is still beautiful. Imperfection does not eliminate beauty.

Lie #2: If you don’t have popular friends, you’re a failure.

Truth #2: By some human standards, that may be what seems true. But by real truth, your worth is not defined by human and whomever you are friends with does not make you a failure or a success.

Lie #3: If I just had _______, my life would be so good and I’d finally be at peace.

Truth #3: If you have God, you are be able to find peace. God doesn’t guarantee a good life, but he guarantees a good outcome.

See? The devil will take a small detail and BAM, it’s suddenly a falsehood that we’re believing and putting our worth in.

Here’s an image I found that shows us what the devil’s voice says versus what God’s voice says. I think it’s really helpful, and we can find a lot of Scripture to back these things up as well, which is very important.

So in conclusion, figure out this out: what things are you believing that might actually be fake?

I hope this was an interesting post, thanks for reading and have a great day!
~Willow