In the Garden of Eden, Satan lured Eve from a path characterized by her perfected submission to God and Adam,her husband, to a twisted maze of destruction and deceit. The wily serpent tricked her with the promise that she would attain understanding like God–that she would be like God–if she ate a piece of fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge. In that moment when she considered the serpent’s offer, Eve revealed her doubt and trust in God’s sovereignty; and she also revealed that what she was contemplating was actually rebellion. She did not want to submit and trust in the order and covering her husband Adam provided her by God’s abundant provision. She revealed a discontented heart. They lived in paradise, for goodness sakes; but it was not good enough for Eve. Satan held out a lie in the form of a fruit; and she consumed it. She devoured the devil’s lie and dressed up her covetous heart’s desires by persuading Adam that the fruit was good for them to eat after all–despite God’s command that they should NOT eat fruit from that particular tree!
*Genesis 3:1-6 ” Now the serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden, Except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden.
God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate.”
When we accept the devil’s lie–when we sin–we exchange our protective covering that is provided by God. It’s almost as if we sign an invisible (spiritual) permission slip that allows the enemy to wreak havoc in our lives. By making sinful choices, we suffer the consequences from biting into the lie within our hearts that we know better than God and that, basically, His plans and provisions are inadequate. In our modernized lives, we are not tempted with a simple piece of fruit. Our “fruit” is candied to make the temptation alluring with its illusion that it will provide something better in our lives. That it will be a source of joy and success. The lie promises to give us a better life–a better husband. A better wife. As soon as we digest the lie and commit sin such as adultery, we give the enemy permission to make us suffer the consequences. That lie is the fruit we imbibe, but we are the ones who allow the seeds of temptation to be planted in our hearts in the first place. Our heart*–with its blind, limited understanding–is the forbidden tree that we are not to eat from. We cannot trust our heart; we have to trust God. Who are we to think that we (the created) know better than the Creator?
Let’s see what God reveals to us about the heart in His Word:
*Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?”
*Proverbs 28:26 “He who leans on, trusts in, and is confident of his own mind and heart is a [self-confident] fool, but he who walks in skillful and godly Wisdom shall be delivered.”
*Proverbs 4:23 “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”
*Proverbs 3:5-6 “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.”
*Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.”
*Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the Rock and firm Strength of my heart and my Portion forever.”
Its important to note that as we savor the deceptive, fleeting pleasure that sin imparts, it begins to dissolve us on the inside. In a spiritual sense, the sin begins to digest us and strip us of time and our love. When one begins to suffer the consequences, such as lack of trust from his/her spouse and chaos within their marriage, they must realize that they don’t know better than God and begin to turn back to Him. We are not to live a life in submission to the desires within our fleshy, carnal heart. We are to live our lives in submission to God by obeying His commands and learning His ways.
When Adam and Eve made the choice to disobey God, they were not allowed to remain under God’s protective covering. They were forced to leave the garden and never allowed to return. When a wife chooses to sin by rebelling against her husband’s sovereign leadership by refusing to submit to him, she is walking out from under God’s covering. Fortunately, thanks to Jesus Christ*, we can make a choice to regain His covering by:
~Confessing our sins to Him
~Repenting (turning completely away from sin in thoughts, words, and conduct)
~Making choices that honor God and our spouse
Thanks to Christ, we are mercifully forgiven! We will make mistakes and fall short; but God allows us to return to Him. God is good!!!
*Romans 6:23 “For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord.”
*1 Peter 2:24 ” He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.”
*1 Corinthians 10:13 “For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.”
Therefore, let us look to The Lord and follow His ways that He may heal us. Let us repent of our sins! May our hearts be in right standing with God so that we exude the “sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved” as described in 2 Corinthians 2:15. Let us turn from the eating the fruit of sin that the enemy tries to harvest by planting seeds of sinful desires within our hearts. Let us not blindly follow our heart but instead follow the Word of God. For the Lord is the ONLY fruit that can satisfy our insatiable hearts and spirits!!!
“O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.” (Psalm34:8).
Thank You Jesus!!! Hallelujah 🙂
*Hosea 14:4-8 “I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely, for My anger is turned away from [Israel]. I will be like the dew and the night mist to Israel; he shall grow and blossom like the lily and cast forth his roots like [the sturdy evergreens of] Lebanon. His suckers and shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like [the cedars and aromatic shrubs of] Lebanon. They that dwell under his shade shall return; they shall revive like the grain and blossom like the vine; the scent of it shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered [him] and will regard and watch over him; I am like a green fir or cypress tree; with Me is the fruit found [which is to nourish you].”
~Cassandra Salamone
Watchmen Wives 