I was outside battling the honeysuckle, wisteria, and a variety of other unwanted weeds that have taken over the corner of the yard when my mind jumped to the Garden of Eden and Adam.
If Adam had not done what he did, I would not be battling the yard in the heat.
Adam could not see all the consequences of his sin. You may be thinking, “What about Eve?”
And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Genesis 3:13
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Romans 5:12-17
Eve was deceived. In a way, she was also used. Satan probably knew she was the more vulnerable one by nature. He probably also worked on her as a way to get to Adam. He probably figured if she’d eat, she’d get Adam to follow.
When Adam followed, he made a deliberate choice. He may have thought, however, that since Eve did not die that the consequences were not real. Adam was limited in his sight.
We can easily look back at Adam’s willful choice and see how it changed the world. Are we any different? Not really.
When we sin, we are also limited in our view of the consequences. We don’t see how it hurts us and how it hurts others in the long run. We have short-term vision too. We’re nearsighted, and Satan knows just how to tempt us.
Hopefully, as we grow spiritually, we learn to walk more and more in obedience. Remember, staying in the Word of God, praying, and attending church with likeminded believers will help keep you strong.
LIFE APPLICATION
Today’s challenge is to understand that we are not really any different than Adam or Eve. It would be easy to judge Adam, and we’d like to think that we are smarter than Eve. In reality, with the right temptation, we are all likely to sin. Guard your heart, and guard your mind. As it says in Ephesians 6, put on the whole armor of God. Take truth, righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God with you and pray.