Haven't you ever wondered why Adam and Eve messed up when they had a perfect life? What more could they want? They lived in Paradise, by golly! We get a glimpse of their motivation in Chapter 3. Now remember, God told them that the CONSEQUENCE of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was DEATH. There was a serpant more crafty than any other creature who refuted God's claim about the the Tree of Knowledge. The serpant teased and tempted Eve with the hope that she could be like God. So she ate of the tree. What a powerful lesson for each of us! We will be tempted to act contrary to what God has planned for us. Eve took the carrot (or the apple?) and got Adam to do the same.What happened next changed the course of humanity forever - their eyes were opened to sin. The first result was that they saw themselves as they really were - naked. Next, they tried to hide from God when they heard Him walking through the garden. How often do we try to hide from God because of what we are doing or not doing? How often do we blame our missteps on someone else like Adam did? Now, I could throw Adam under the bus at this point and play the "Woman Card," but I'll refrain because I am sure Eve would have done the same thing if things had been reversed. No one likes to take responsibility for messing up.
God did pronounce the consequences of their actions, and it was three-fold. 1) Death - their lives, our lives, became mortal instead of immortal - they would die an earthly death. 2) Women's pain in childbirth would be multiplied - thanks a lot! 3) Man would now have to toil at his work - it would be hard and not always pleasurable - God had planted the Garden of Eden and Adam just had to pick, eat, and enjoy. Now man would have to do the planting and the ground would unforgiving. To summarize the magnitude of their choice, God took them out of the Garden (Paradise) and put them into the World! Ouch!!!
Lesson learned: I am too much like Adam and Eve. I try to rationalize away the reasons I do not live out His plan for me every day and then hide my mistakes from Him. Application: He sees and knows my heart - even when behind the bushes! I am naked before Him.
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