Recently I've been reading through the book of Genesis and God has just been showing me so many things that I'd never seen before. That's one of the things I love about the scriptures, it doesn't matter how many times I read something, there's always another level of revelation. I could read the Bible a million times through and find something new each time!
One thing that kind of blew my mind a bit was the story of Adam and Eve. I know we've all read it and know it forwards and backwards, but reading it again this last time I began to think about the reasons behind Eve's decision to eat the fruit. She had everything going for her, a great husband, beautiful home, all of her needs provided for and let's not forget she was drop dead gorgeous and never going to age or lose her girlish figure. Who wouldn't want that? On top of all that she had an intimate relationship with God who came down daily to walk and talk with her. She had quite the life! Yet, something compelled her to eat of the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan came to her as a serpent and knew her weakness. He knew exactly what to target in her in order to cause her to fall into sin. The serpent planted a seed of doubt in Eve's mind. He implied that God was holding something good back from her, something that was for her benefit, that would make her like God Himself. And so Eve ate the fruit and gave it to her husband and he ate the fruit too. Their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked and they knew shame for the very first time. See, Satan knew that if he could cause that doubt in Eve's mind, that thought that what he was offering was better than what God had then he could get Eve to sin. Eve didn't recognize that what he was offering was only half truth. He told her she wouldn't die from eating the fruit, yet we know that the moment she ate it death entered the world. Her body began to die in that moment; her physical body, her emotional body, and her spiritual body. Eve thought God was withholding something good from her when in reality He with keeping her from death. Now here's the kicker, we're exactly the same way. Satan uses the same tricks that worked for him then to get to us now. We fall for it hook, line, and sinker. He gets us to think the things that God has told us not to touch are good for us, that God is holding something back. But the reality of the situation is this, God knows what is good for us and what will bring death. He makes it clear in His word and it's not because He wants to be a dictator or be mean, but because He, as our creator, knows what's best for us. We've all fallen into this trap, thinking we know better than God because surely this "thing" is for our good. But God knows so much better than we do, and He's only looking out for us. Many times when we fall into sin we also experience that "shame" that Adam and Eve did. Their response is the same as ours, to hide from God. But the best thing we can do when we fall is to allow God Almighty to come in, see the mess we've made, clean us up, and put us right back on our feet. Satan uses that shame to try and separate us from God, but God doesn't hold our sins against us. When we repent and ask for forgiveness He casts them as far as the east is from the west. Sitting here writing this I'm amazed by the goodness of God and so incredibly thankful that Jesus took my punishment for my sins making a way for me to come to the Father. I hope and pray that the insight God gave me helps you as it's helped me!
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