“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
(Genesis 3:6)
Eve . . . the first lady of creation.
She had the perfect man, enjoyed a perfect garden, and had fellowship with a perfect God. But then Satan entered the scene, and everything changed.
I try to imagine what it was like, there in the beautiful garden at the dawn of creation. And questions begin to swirl around in my mind:
“Eve, what were you thinking?!?”
“What more could you need?”
“Why didn’t you just walk away?”
And then I stop myself, because I know the truth, and the realization sinks deep.
We are not so different from Eve.
Maybe we aren’t standing in a literal garden, contemplating whether or not to take a bite of fruit, but daily we are navigating the path between the sunlit garden and the dark alley.
Choices . . .
Look.
Touch.
Take.
Sin is often wrapped in packages that are pretty and seemingly harmless.
. . . A tantalizing piece of fruit.
. . . Gossip disguised as a prayer request.
. . . Obedience to parts of the Word in hopes that it will be enough to cancel out the other parts we ignore.
And the fruit hangs there, dangling on the tree . . . tempting us to come close.
We see it, but don’t walk away.
We circle it.
Consider it.
We step closer.
Touch it.
Examine it.
But we don’t walk away.
We stand in the Light but flirt with the dark.
One foot in the garden. One foot in the world.
And then the taste . . .
The decision is made, and our soul shifts. Sometimes dramatically, sometimes subtly. But nevertheless, a shift.
We step over the line into disobedience and forsake the Gardener. The taste might be sweet at first, but then it turns bitter in our mouth.
We want to spit it out, but we can’t.
We swallow hard and grab a hand full of fig leaves to try and mask the choice.
We didn’t walk away.
But God . . .
Oh, the grace that flows freely from the One who sees us, knows us, and loves us in spite of ourselves!
In the end, Adam and Eve were removed from the garden. But even though there were consequences issued by God, a beautiful picture of His grace can be found in Genesis 3:21 . . .
“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them.”
What love!
Even though sin had entered the world and the perfect relationship with God had been tarnished, He stooped low in the midst of the brokenness and dressed His creation in grace!
Before He sent them from the garden, God clothed Adam and Eve.
His tender love and grace reached close and covered them.
And thankfully, He is still doing the same thing today . . . in your life and in mine!
In His Grace,
Sherri
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