At one point or another we’ve all questioned Eve’s terrible decision making…. ‘How could she?’ ‘Didn’t she know better?’ The effects of one person’s curiosity are still having a profound effect on humanity today. But rather than blaming her or using her mistake to excuse your lifestyle, it’s important to realise that you allow history to repeat itself every single day. Of course God hasn’t placed you in a garden with a forbidden tree, but perhaps there is something that He has asked you to stay away from however despite repeated warnings you still succumb to it. Sin is just as dangerous now as it was in the Garden of Eden; yet somehow you feel that being ‘born into it’ makes your reluctance to let go of bad habits acceptable.
There are few guarantees in life, but the Triple A of sin is surely one; sin will always be: attractive, easily attainable and leave you feeling ashamed. Genesis 3:6,8 provides the blueprint for sin’s hallmarks and they are still evident today:
v6 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 – [attractive]
v6 …she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her,
and he ate – [attainable]
v8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden – [ashamed]
Although I have no idea what your struggle is, I know that when you started it probably seemed very appealing and no doubt easy to do. However somewhere along the line you started feeling guilty or uncertain about your actions. Trusting God means that sometimes He will create boundaries that you are desperate to ignore; your mind will question whether or not the grass really is greener or on the other side… Let me remind you that there is such a thing as knowing too much, as the saying goes ‘experience is a great teacher, but a fool learns by no other means’.
Sin will always be attractive, it wouldn’t be appealing otherwise, but your job is to trust God when He says no because He experienced the consequences of sin so that you wouldn’t have to. He loves you, and His sacrifice on your behalf was so that you could experience victory despite Eve’s mistake.
Genesis 3:7 mentions that Adam and Eve made themselves fig leaves to cover their nakedness… funny how the devil wasn’t courteous enough to clothe those he had just deceived? I suppose once he had succeeded he was ready to me on. In contrast, God says ‘I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see’ (Revelation 3:18).
An all too familiar consequence of sin is feeling exposed, tainted or used, but do not be disheartened; whilst the devil intends to leave you in this forlorn state, God loves you so much that He is ready to cover you with His righteousness when you repent.
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