Genesis 3:1-8. The Garden of Eden trap continues be trap human beings. In these verses we are privileged to witness the sin of Adam and Eve. It is the failure to know the duplicitous power of evil in our world, in our lives. The first parents of humankind are tricked by the evil spirit, portrayed as "the serpent."
When asked if it was true that God has restricted them from eating the fruit of a particular tree, Eve assured "the serpent" that God had indeed forbidden them from eating the produce of that tree. Furthermore they were not "even (to) touch it, lest (they) die." We know the rest of the story. Adam and Eve were weighed down by their primal garden nakedness. What had never been an issue for them suddenly became an experience of shame and fear. They hid from God when they heard him approaching. They felt the consequences of their disobedience. They knew that the evil spirit had duped them in telling them they would be as gods if they ate the fruit. They had fallen for his trickery.
They were sold a lie and they bought it. "The serpent" did not tell them the consequences of their action. Their life would never be the same. The wisdom of the evil spirit did not share with them the feat and shame that would weigh down upon them from that time onward. Imagine how troubling life was for them having to hide from the God whose presence they had obviously enjoyed. Consider the freedom lost in their dealing with each other: they had to hide their own nakedness.
The story repeats itself day after day since then. The consequences of sin remain the same: guilt, personal frustration, disappointment and a genuine fear of God. The evil spirit continues to dupe the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve through half-truths. The evil spirit continues to invite God's people to know what is best for themselves, to ignore what God has put before them as his Commandments, his laws. "The serpent" continues to assure humankind that they are endowed with certain rights to do with their minds and bodies as they wish.
There is a simple question: how many times does a person take on sinful failure and its consequences, its shame, its guilt, before they seek to strength to follow God's will for themselves? We do live in a garden today. There are many trees that can lead us to failure. Wealth, knowledge and free will. We have especially the tree of knowledge than can bring us to understand the consequences of sin. Nevertheless, being a human being continues to suffer the plague of that original sin. Taking the bate. Falling into the trap. And what are these? Buying into half-truths presented to us by the evil spirit.
