Jan 22 Take Some Credit

January 22

Take Some Credit.

Ge 3:6 ¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food…

… she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…

People today are too quick to give away the credit for what they have done themselves. I think it starts early when they are children.  “Who made this mess?”  “Not me MaMa, it was Billy”  Through the school years the skill continues to improve.  “Don’t blame me, he started it!”

As adults we too often give someone, or something, credit for what we have done ourselves.  It has been happening since Eve was in the garden chatting with a the serpent.

Ge 3:14 ¶ And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this…. upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

When God came into the garden he asked Eve “What is this that thou hast done?”   God must have made a mistake blaming her so she corrected Him. “Nope, wasn’t me. I ate it but it wasn’t my fault. The serpent fooled me”  (The devil made me do it!)

And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

We almost laugh at Eve because it is so obvious she chose to do it. Oh the serpent lied to her, she exaggerated what God said about not eating it, and then  decided “Why not? What could it hurt”   

God had told them (Gen 2:17) “…thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”  Eve translates God’s Word into the Eve translation and said, (Gen 3:3) Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”  God said don’t eat it, Eve said don’t touch it. God said “…thou shalt surely die” but Eve said “…lest ye die”  The serpent said “…Ye shall not surely die:”  He lied to her.  So why should we blame poor deluded Eve.

We should blame her for the same reason people are at fault today. They do not know or remember what the Word of God actually says; they accept the lies of our modern culture, (things will make you happy) and they avoid blame by a multitude of excuses. I was mad; I was in a bad mood; he started it; it wasn’t my fault; look what you made me do; I was tired; everybody does it; So what is the big deal anyway; they deserved it, etc etc.  There seems to be no end to the excuses. But the Bible says Eve decided on her own to eat and it gives three reasons which are at the core of all our decisions to do what we call mistakes or messing up. (The Bible calls disobedience sin!)

  But first it should be noted where was Eve when this happened. Was she with her husband? No. Was she roaming through the splendors of the garden enjoying fruit from all the other trees in the garden? No.  Where was she?  She was standing near the forbidden tree!  She must have been curious.  What is so wrong with this tree? Why is the fruit forbidden?  Was she planning to disobey God? Probably not. Well, why was she there?  She was like many carnal Christians today who spend time wandering near sinful things, just curious, you might say window shopping for sin. Not planning to buy but enjoy looking.  To avoid falling into the pit, you should stay away from the pit.

First we should not be window shopping for sin. Once we have our eye on it three motives surface to tell us to go ahead

She saw it was good to eat.  The lust of the flesh is a powerful force which leads to sin.

It was pleasant to her eyes. The lust of the eyes fills our souls with longing after something.

It was desired to make one wise. The pride of Life fills our spirit with longings  for wisdom and knowledge. 

1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

These three downward steps culminated in her taking the fruit and eating it.  They were effective because she was in the wrong place, where she heard bad advice. It all began with a simple conversation that the serpent began with an innocent question. “Yea, hath God said?” 

Dear reader, we must study our Bibles to know what God hath said, lest a tempter confuse us. The promises of God are so much greater than the prohibitions of God.  Let us Praise His name for giving us His Word for our edification. May we seek after the fruits of the Spirit. 

Ps 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.