The Forbidden Fruit

June 1 2019

In the Book of Genesis, God gave a command to Adam that he should not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He could eat from all of the other trees, but that tree was off limits. Satan disguised himself as a serpent and engaged in a conversation with the woman and got her to see that it was okay to disobey God and violate the commandment. He used the power of persuasion. Once she ate the fruit, she gave it to her husband and he ate also. No one twisted his arm. He was a willing participant. The serpent was able to paint a picture that they would be like god and possess great knowledge. We all look at this story and wonder how could such betrayal occur?

Satan is a master at getting people to do wrong and disobey God. He did it in the beginning and is still doing it thousands of years later. He manipulates people by creating lies and appealing to our flesh. When we fall for his trickery, we are just like Adam and Eve, we partake of the forbidden fruit. God gives us stern warnings to resist the devil and he will flee from us. He is in essence commanding us to stay away from that tree and the corrupt fruit that it bears. He knows that one bite can lead to our eternal destruction. For the wages of sin is death. If we listen and obey, we receive His blessings of eternal life, but if we disobey and eat the fruit of sin, we die.

God’s goal is for us to live and not die. That’s why He sent His son to die for us. We need to heed the commandments of God and use the Word to fight our enemy. No one said it would be easy, but if we abide in Him and let Him abide in us, we are certain to have the victory.