When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good and pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some, and ate it.--Genesis 3:6
It made sense to her. The tree, after all, held the knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge is good, right? The fruit was supposed to bring wisdom. God wants us to be wise, doesn't He?
It made sense. Simple, common sense. So what was the problem?
The problem wasn't with the apple. The apple itself was fine, exactly what it was made to be. The problem was Eve. And what she thought of God.
Eve thought of the apple first, not God. According to Eve's reasoning and common sense, the apple should have brought wisdom, but it brought death for only one reason: God said it would.
God's command supersedes appearances and simple deduction and common sense. If common sense ruled, knowledge of good and evil would have brought Eve the advantages of wisdom and we would all have profited by it. But it didn't because God knew that, in the end, it would destroy us, and it did.
It is not the worth of a thing itself that matters most. It is whether God, in His infinite wisdom, affirms or denies our access to it. Temptation ties itself not to the thing, but to our willingness to trust and obey.
Jesus saw this immediately when Satan came to visit Him:
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.--Matthew 4:4
Plain obedience satisfied Christ. Should it not satisfy us as well?
Thank you for sharing at "Tell me a Story." Yes forbidden fruit is always tasty at first, then it burns in the belly. In her heart was the power of choice and she certainly made an unwise decision that effects us all. (We might have done the same thing if our name was Eve?!?!??)
ReplyDeleteNot sure I would say using common sense is wrong, not listening to God is wrong. Following your desires without remembering the consequences is stupid and irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem blaming common sense - because too often it isn't used and people do stupid stuff
You are right. Common sense isn't always wrong, but it's important to remember that God operates above it. Sometimes, what He tells us to do does not follow conventional wisdom. Of course, He is not conventional. In the absence of specific instructions we can confirm are from God, common sense still applies.
DeleteGood post.
ReplyDelete