Reason #694

She had messed up big time. This wasn’t a little white lie. No, “Oh yea, those pants look great on you” sort of thing. Although, I suppose a lie is a lie. But this was the one thing God had told her not to do. Don’t eat from that tree, Eve. How simple, and if you can’t resist the temptation, just stay away. She had a million other trees to choose from. She didn’t need that fruit. But it called her, beckoning her each time she passed by it. Sure, she could have taken a different route so that she didn’t even have to worry about giving in, but there was just something about it that was so mysterious. So intriguing. Seemingly harmless. It’s just fruit after all. And so it didn’t take much for him to tempt her. To convince her to follow her selfish desires and eat that forbidden fruit. A little deception, and she pulled that fruit right off the tree. Her teeth sunk in, and from that point forward everything changed.

 

It’s easy to, but don’t judge her. After all, you’ve probably eaten your fair share of fruit, too. Feeling like you were so wise and invincible, yet you walked circles around that tree. You justified your every move until you were convinced that it was no big deal. What’s a little taste going to hurt? It really can’t be that bad for me. All the while, completely ignoring the Lord’s will for you. Completely silencing that little voice deep down inside that reminds you this isn’t the best way. Forgetting the fact that you have so many other options, so many good things on your side, you, too, sunk your teeth into that fruit and your life was changed forever.

 

All it takes is one bite. But it’s not really about the fruit itself, it’s about being disobedient. About completely pushing past all that God has in store for you and following your own desires because that’s what you want. And maybe you got to the point of no return and figure, “Oh well, I’ve already made it this far. I might as well finish it off.” Or maybe you were deceived into believing this really was an okay choice to make. Either way, you fell, just like Eve. A really hard, really painful fall and it just seems that there’s no way to recover from it.

 

Woman, birthing sin into a perfect world. One bite and death was born. How was Eve ever going to take this back? How could the damage be repaired? If Eve was anything like me, she probably kicked herself for the rest of her life. She had ruined it for everyone, and no one was more upset about than her. One bad choice, eternal consequences. Yet God showed her such compassion. Rather than wiping her out, He clothed her with the skin of a sacrificed lamb to cover her guilt and shame because God’s plan for woman did not end there.

 

Eve, the mother of all. Birthing man who would die because of sin. This was her role. This was what God designed woman to do. To bear children, and to bring forth new life into a decaying world. And thousands of years later, Mary was born. Woman, made in Eve’s image, who was made it God’s image. Mary, who was not perfect, either. Mary, who had no clue what it was like to live in a perfect world because Mary, too, was born into a dark place. But God had a redemptive plan in store when Eve bit into that apple, and Mary was going to turn things around. With one choice, Mary obeyed God’s will for her life. Woman, the one who initiated the fall was now the one who God was using to bring forth salvation. Eve birthed sin, Mary birthed redemption. Eve ushered in death and darkness, Mary brought forth life and light. God, the Father of all mankind, giving woman the most beautiful story of redemption. And although it seemed there was no way she could have ever made up for biting that fruit, there was. A tiny baby, sleeping in a manger, was the perfect way. Because with one big breath, one push, one little cry, our sacrifice was born. The one whose skin would be broken, whose blood would be spilled, whose life would be poured out to cover our guilt and shame, joined us on earth so that we could have eternal life.

 

#694 - For His redemptive plan to overcome the birth of sin with the birth of the Savior!

 

"O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows. He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin." - Psalm 130:7-8