One rule. That was all that God had given Adam and Eve. They were living in Paradise without a care in the world. God had provided everything that they needed; but He had also given them free will, which included a choice (if there is not a choice to obey or disobey, then free will doesn’t exist). Some might say that God was being “mean” when he put that one rule into place. That is not the case at all. He designed man with free will so that he would choose to love Him, not be made to. Any parent knows that if you have to make your child love you, it’s not really love.
So here we find Eve in Genesis 3. She had everything: a beautiful home, a perfect body, a gorgeous husband, a relationship with God…a seemingly perfect life. But she wanted more. (Do you know anyone like that?) Satan planted that seed in her mind that there was more out there. So she began to check out the “forbidden tree”. She walked around it. She looked at the fruit. She saw that it looked tastier than the fruit that she had been eating. Maybe she was bored with her mundane life and was looking for excitement.
So began the temptation of something new. Something exciting. Something that would make her life better. God knew what she was doing. He saw her looking at that tree. He knew her thoughts. But she had free will. Satan knew what she was doing, too. He saw his plan was working and it didn’t take much convincing on his part to get her to do the forbidden.
But it wasn’t enough for her to take part in the sin. She had to pull her husband in with her. How do you think she did that?
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Gen 3:6 NLT
From experience, I know that there are ways that I can get my husband to do just about anything that I want him to (you women do not need an explanation of that!). I will venture to guess that Adam was the same way. Eve was the most beautiful woman that ever lived (and she walked around naked all the time), one bat of her eyelashes and Adam would have done anything she asked. God put that desire in Adam for his wife, but He did not intend for Eve to use it against him.
The repercussions of this original sin will never end until the world is destroyed. That one act has affected every other human being that has lived since then.
“Then he said to the woman, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you. " And to the man he said, "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return." - Gen 3:16-19 NLT
What should we learn from Eve? First of all, look around you. If you have a good life, do not let satan put thoughts in your head about what you are missing out on. Be content with the blessings that God has already given you. If He wants more for you, He will provide it. Focus on what you DO have and not what you are missing! Count your blessings and you WILL find happiness.
Second, just because something is permissible, does not mean that it is beneficial. God placed the fruit where they could get to it; it was there within their grasp. But He had told them that it would cause their death. The bible warns us of MANY things that we should avoid because they will lead to death and destruction. Learn from Eve! Don’t do those things that the Lord has warned against. He loves you and wants better for you!
"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. - 1Cor 6:12 NIV
And finally, DO NOT use desire to manipulate others into doing what you want. Many men (and women, too) have been led astray and pulled into a pit of sin because someone used their desires against them. A man’s desire for his wife (or a woman’s for her husband) is a God given gift. (Ask someone who doesn’t have that…they will tell you what a wonderful gift it is.) We should never use that gift to control our spouse or lead them into sin!
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