“The Serpent Deceived Me, And I Ate”

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:1-13

We all love seeing the world through the eyes of our grandchildren. To them, everything is an adventure, whether walking the length of a fallen tree, spying a turtle sunning itself, or excitedly watching a fire truck go by.

But our grandchildren are not truly innocent. They can make up a dozen excuses about why they can’t stay in their beds at night, and why they are quick to yank a wanted toy from the other grandchild. But we love them dearly.

Adam and Eve are in some ways, like our grandchildren. Everything they saw in the garden was seen as a marvel as they walked with God. But one day they willfully disobeyed. They ate of the one tree they were forbidden to eat. And that disobedience immediately led to lies and blame shifting.

Still, God cared for them. He sacrificed animals in order to clothe them, and later He provided a way of salvation for all sinners through the sacrifice of His Son. He loves us that much.

Jesus loves us so much He sacrificed Himself for our sins.

Our Daily Bread – August 22, 2018