Don’t Do It Eve! (Part 2) – Don’t pull the gold chain!

The woman was convinced.  She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her.  So she took some of the fruit and ate it.  Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.  Genesis 3:6

Wouldn’t you love to have a time machine, and go back in time, and warn Adam and Eve very sternly, “Please Do Not Eat That Fruit!  You are going to mess this Eden thing all up!  You are going to curse all of your descendants for, I don’t know, for forever!”  Lysa Terkheurst spoke of Eve’s choice in her book “Made to Crave,” maybe for a piece of chocolate but not fruit!

I wish I had someone issuing me a very loud warning the other day.  I just couldn’t help myself.  My curiosity was getting the best of me.  I just had to pull the gold chain that was connected to a fire alarm bell.  I just couldn’t fathom why an empty house would need such a gadget as this.  It didn’t help any that my mother-in-law, who was with me, just kept wondering, “I wonder what this gold chain does?”  That statement drove me to the edge.  I had to test it out.  I couldn’t leave that house not knowing what would happen if I pulled the gold chain, so I pulled.  Must I state the obvious.  Yes the fire alarm bell went to clanging, loudly!  I felt like I did as a child when my mom caught me grabbing another cookie before dinner.  Oh how I wanted that clanging to stop!  We searched and searched for any way to stop the bell.  There was no way.  For all I know that bell is still going off in that empty house, because we just shut the door and locked it and left the noisy house.

I guess now I do empathize with my ancestor, Eve.  She saw, she touched, and she ate.  I saw, I touched, and I pulled.  We both went past the point of no return.

Yesterday I wrote my version of “The Fall.”  As I wrote, God taught me several critical issues that led to Eve’s downfall.  Now I realize what I wrote is only my version as I see it, but through my version God showed me the small steps Eve took that led her to her demise.

1.  Eve was created for a purpose.  To be Adam’s helpmate.  She was created from his side.  They were both stronger together.  The serpent asked Eve alone “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”  The serpent found her in a vulnerable position, and out of position: so he pounced. (My lesson – do my God given assignments only and don’t be out of position.  Don’t get into vulnerable situations.  I am stronger with my husband.  I need his God inspired wisdom for my life.)
2. I believe that Eve did not have first hand knowledge of the commandment of God, : “But the LORD GOD warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden – except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”  Genesis 2:16-17 NLT.  I believe Adam told Eve of this commandment, and thus she added to the command, “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat.  God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it: if you do, you will die.'”  Genesis 3:3 NLT (My lesson – my faith cannot be second hand faith; it must be personal.  My knowledge of God’s Word cannot be second hand knowledge; it must be living and active inside of me.  In either case, I am weak and susceptible to our enemy, the devil, who prowls around looking for anyone he might devour.
3. Run!  Run from temptation.  Eve didn’t run when she heard the sinister voice.  She got sucked into a conversation with him. (My lesson – Run!)

Truly I could possibly go on and on with the lessons learned from these verses.  You get the gist of where I am heading.  It is your turn.  Reply back with any lessons you learned from Adam and Eve’s mistake.