Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Genesis 3:1-7

 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals God made.  He said the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"  

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

The important part of this story is not so much that Adam and Eve disobeyed.  But that they second-guessed God – they distrusted God and thought they needed to discover the fruit of a particular tree God told them not to eat.  What they discovered was immediate – they knew they should have trusted what God said and listened to Him, so they became embarrassed and went into hiding.

Sometimes we too make mistakes.  When this happens, what do you do?  Do you run and hide like Adam and Eve did?  Do you pretend that it wasn’t your fault?  Do you justify what you did with excuses?  There are consequences for every action we take.  But God has made a promise to always be with us, even when we doubt God or live our lives in ways that go against what He desires for us and all creation. 

This is where we find hope.  And we can rest assured in this hope.  For there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God, through Jesus Christ – not even death itself.

Dear God, you provide us with all that we need.  Help us to trust you and the gifts you give.  This Advent season, we will fill our hearts with hope, the hope that you are always near and will never stop loving us.  Amen.