Proximity to Sin
Gen 3:6 “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 desirable to make {one} wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Now I don’t know if the “tree“ could be seen from anywhere in the garden, but the Bible does not say that the Eve had to be coaxed closed enough to the tree that she could pick the fruit. I have wondered for a long time if, after being told not to eat of this tree, she gradually worked her way closer and closer to the tree. Then when she and Adam were close enough that she could see it was delightful and desirable it didn’t take very much persuasion to pick and eat the fruit.
How many times do we, knowing it is wrong, put ourselves in close proximity to sin? No, we don’t normally rush in, we just gradually ease closer and closer until we get close enough to see that it is delightful and desirable. Then someone urges, “Go ahead, nobody will know. It’s okay. It’s your life and you only live once.” And since we have come this far and nothing bad has happened – we pick the fruit and eat.
We live in a society today that places blame for our actions on everything and everyone except self. I humbly submit to you that when we sin, it is by our own doing. Adam and Eve had a choice to make – and they made it. Look at all the suffering one bite bite of fruit has caused. Each time we make a bad choice we are not the only one that suffers.
Colossians 3:1-2 (NKJV) If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. {2} Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
September 19th, 2005 at 8:14 am
I have noticed, through many more years in youth ministry than I care to admit, that youth, and adults, tend to see how close we can come to sin without actually sinning. When we talk about dating, the question will eventually be asked, “How far is too far?” We want a line that we can get as close to as possible, but not sin. I tell the kids, that’s the wrong question. The right question is, “It it holy?” Instead of seeking a line to keep from crossing, we should seek an arrow that points us away from sin and back to God. We should do our best to get as far away from sin as possible, not try to get close to it! I think that your observation is right on!
Bill
September 19th, 2005 at 11:40 am
That reminds me of The Parable fo the River that I read in one of Max Lucado’s books . It is primarily a story of redemption and restoration. It begins with the four brothers who live in a castle with their father. The father has continually warned his sons about the dangers of the river and told them repeatedly to never go near it. Over time they get closer and closer to the river’s edge until one day one of them leans far out to put his hand in the river. He calls to his brothers to hold on to his other hand so that he won’t fall in but the current is too strong and quickly pulls all of them in. They are tossed in the strong current over rocks and debris through the rapids and eventually are thrown up on the river bank. After recovering from the ordeal they find that they are in a foreign land in a village of savages. eventually , one by one they each begin to become a part of the savages among whom they live.
The rest of the story, as i said, deals with redemption and restoration so it does have a happy ending
But the point is, as Bill stated, the danger of getting as close as we can rather than as far away as we can.
We each have a responsibility to strive for a personal holiness, not something we can attain in our own strength and determination but in seeking Christ in every way, in everything, in every moment, letting Him take our every thought captive, trusting that He has spoken every spiritual blessing over our lives and that whatever boundaries He has put up are for our protection, not to deprive us. When we determine to pursue the river, whatever that river may be in our own life, we are pursuing our own destruction.
Everyone of us has been “down river” a time or two, some take shorter trips than others, but they all begin the same way – by getting to close to the waters edge and thinking we are stronger than the current.
D
October 6th, 2005 at 7:20 am
I was reading this scripture again and this part really stood out, “ …she gave also to her husband with her…” The lesson here is when selecting an accountability partner make sure they won’t do what you do. Adam was obviously there and didn’t say, “Eve, I am not going to eat that because God said we are not to eat of this tree.”