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Gen 3:1-6

New Living Translation

    The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too.

Free Will

I’m often amazed that I have two children that are as different as night and day. From the moment my son was born he was a snuggler. Totally affectionate, loved hugs and kisses and would be content being held all the time. 

My daughter is a completely different story. From the minute she was born she would much rather be with Daddy than Mommy and when I nursed her she hit me with her tiny fists in away of conveying “I’ll do this, but I’m not happy I have to depend on anyone”. From the time my son was around six months old I could put him in the playpen so I could attend to the mountain of laundry, stacks of dishes and piles of dirty diapers left in his aftermath. (Who could have ever guessed such a small person could generate this much mess?) He would happily play for hours in his playpen surrounded by his favorite toys with not even a peep. He was totally content in his surroundings. 

My daughter is a different story. She would start screaming before her bottom hit the floor of the playpen. By no means did she want to be caged in. There was too much going on beyond the see through mesh of the playpen. She looked at me through screams and tearful eyes as if to say “Mommy, how could you want me to stay in here when there’s so much more fun outside the playpen”. Knowing all the dangers beyond those mesh walls I could not let her play by herself, but of course she had no way of understanding. Everything outside those walls always looked more enticing to her. A knife on the counter she could use to pretend she’s a pirate, a wall socket that could have endless possibilities of things inserted, not to mention the dogs tail that if grasped the correct way could pull you through the house on a “sleigh ride”. It is my job to make sure she’s safe. Of course as they get older I can do less and less to keep them safe. The see through mesh walls of the playpen turn to rules at school, rules in society, and God’s law. These are much less concrete then the boundaries they are used to and I watch them push the limits to find out where those “walls” are. 

Isn’t it predictable as we get older that we finally start to understand that what’s outside of the boundaries always looks like more fun than what’s in our playpen? That had to be what Eve thought. “It’s just one apple”,  “apple’s are good for your, right, and God wants me to have what’s good for me”. Then again how often does Satan deceive us using the same temptations wrapped in a pretty package with a shiny bow? No matter how pretty the package is – sin is sin. What appears to be exciting love can turn into adultery, having “fun” with our friends and drinking and doing a few “experimental” drugs turns to addiction, helping our friends can turn to enabling. Maybe I can identify with Eve more than I think. I’ve often fallen into the trappings of a beautiful package that is disguised as what God wants for me. In the same way that I love my children and want to keep them safe God loves me and wants the same. Just like a selfish child I sometimes feel like I’m being cheated because I don’t get what I want. I have to learn to rely on my Father just like my children learn to rely on me. I often don’t understand the reasoning, but that’s not my job, it’s God’s job to understand the why.