Are we the
“Eves at the forbidden tree” in others lives?
First the Genesis account: ”He [the serpent] said to the
woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman
said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of
the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest
you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the
woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God
knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the
eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its
fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he
ate.” ~ Genesis 3:1b-6
As we all know, this is the story of how
SIN entered the world. The serpent was in the garden, tempted Eve with food (go
figure that it was food), Eve ate it, and then Eve gave it to Adam and he ate.
They both disobeyed God. Despite the fact that Eve was the one who was tempted
and took the first bite God still blamed Adam who then in turn blamed Eve and
God by saying “it was the woman whom YOU gave me.” This may be in part because
Adam was noted as being “with her” but this is not what I want to focus on this
time. For this time I want to focus on Eve’s actions only.
The words that stuck out to me were: “and
she also gave some to...” Eve gave something to her husband which in turn
caused him to sin. This caused me to really examine my own life. Do I “give”
things to my husband that cause him to sin? Do I “give” things to my friends or
family that cause them to sin? I bet you’re wondering whatever could I mean?
Let me explain.
Recently some women in our church, who were
long time members, were posting things on social media websites that were
controversial and opposed some of the ministries and people that our church
supported. They felt that so-in-so and “that”
ministry were wrong so they felt it was their mission to tell everyone. Let me preface this by saying that the Bible
has biblical and foundational truths that MUST NEVER be compromised! But these
things were not one of those areas. They were attempting to “poison” others
with their cause. Eventually things did not end well and the families ended up
choosing to leave our church.
Now, that is a dramatic example. But what
about us? Do we poison our husband? Friends? Family? with gossip, crude humor,
or inappropriate things? Do our actions cause someone else to sin?
I asked myself this very question and I was
stuck by two things. 1. I do cause other people to sin by my actions. I say
things I shouldn’t. I do things I shouldn’t. But not only I was sinning against my Father in heaven but
my actions were are also causing others
to sin too! It’s easy to dismiss our own sins at times but to think that I am
causing a rift between someone else and their Father in heaven hurt me deeply.
It caused me to be more conscientious of my own actions and how they affect
others. Secondly, are my actions reflecting Christ to those who don’t believe
in Him? If not, then I am poisoning their ideas and what Christianity is
supposed to look like, thereby, only distancing them further from eternal
salvation. How careful we must be.
So I am challenging you readers with this:
“and she also gave some to...” Who and what are you giving to others? Is it the
fruit of life? Or the fruit of division and death?
