Good morning. Time for day one of the 30 days through the bible reading plan. Enjoy the journey!

 

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-19- the fall of humanity

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[e] and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to[f] your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

Observation: So many interesting things happen in these verses. First, I’ve always wondered if it was just a normal thing for the animals to talk to Adam and Eve? It sure didn’t seem to phase her when the serpent spoke to her. Interesting.  The serpent then began to plant doubt in her mind. “Did God really..?”  But the part I find the most interesting in these verses is what happens once God comes to the garden. Although Eve took the fruit first, and gave some to Adam, who was with her, God questions Adam about what happened. Why? Because Adam is supposed to be the leader, the head of the home. And he clearly did not step up when he needed to. Instead, once he was confronted by God, the blame game started. “The woman whom you gave to me…”  Adam not only tried blaming Eve, but God. Because after all, God’s the one that gave the woman to him.

Application: This sounds so familiar. No one likes to get in trouble and take the blame. How often do we try and deflect the blame somewhere else or onto someone else? No, we need to step up and take responsibility for our own actions and decisions. Society is becoming a place where taking responsibility is becoming less and less. Today, we need to ensure we are stepping up. Admit when you are wrong, own up to it.  Support authority, like teachers, police etc..   As a man, husband and dad, it is my responsibility to ensure the family is walking on the right path, and most importantly, am I setting the spiritual example in my home?

 

Prayer: God, thank you for this beautiful day. Thank you for this lesson today. Lord, help us all to never be afraid to do the right thing. God, show me if I have deflected blame and responsibility, and show me areas where I need to step up. God, help us to be men and women of integrity, men and women who truly reflect You to the world. I thank you for your word, and I eagerly await what you have in store in the next 30 days of this study. In Jesus name, amen.