Fool woman -- discarding truth;
flagrantly disobeying,
flinging wisdom to the ground --
EVE, mother of all living.

Loved, but craving novelty;
lured from path of righteousness,
looking unto the Darkness,
bare feet wandering out of bounds.

Greedy habit….. yearning for
gratification….. brought her
groping blindness, stumbling
toward fountains of despair,

Bathed her soul acquiescing
by murky pools; shunned God’s spring
bubbling with Living Water,
to be drowned in serpent’s lie.

Plaintive cry, “.....where are you?”
penetrated hidden glen,
permeated garden paths;
None escapes God’s searching eye.

              ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thus Eve learned ….. to fall in sin,
then search for vain solution …..
though God would send a Savior
to provide salvation's balm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOTH ADAM AND EVE SINNED in the garden of Eden, where God had placed them to live in freedom, happiness and close friendship with Him.  I chose to focus on Eve because I am a woman and like Eve, I have often chosen to disobey God.
Adam and Eve were free to enjoy their home, oversee the garden and all the animals, and to eat the foods that grew there in the perfect environment.

THEY HAD ONE RESTRICTION, however.  Among all the fruit-bearing trees, God told them that one tree's fruit was not to be eaten.  Satan, disguised as a serpent, spoke to Eve, misquoted what God had said, and challenged her to eat the forbidden fruit.  He assured her that she would become like God if she ate from that tree.

Eve was tempted.  Temptation is not sin.  However, Eve accepted Satan's lie, disregarded God's command, ate the fruit and offered some to Adam, who joined her in disobeying God.

THE IMMEDIATE RESULT was the knowledge that they had done wrong, the loss of their innocence and the loss of their close friendship with God.  There's much more to their story in Genesis, chapter 3.

LET'S LOOK AT THE SERIOUSNESS of disobeying God (sinning).
God is holy.  God is just.  God demands punishment for sin.  He demands a perfect sacrifice to atone for sin.

AS ADAM'S DESCENDANTS, we are all born with a human nature that is prone to sin.  We can also call it a sin nature.  We inherited our sin nature from our first parents, Adam and Eve.

Even in the garden of Eden, God provided animal skins to clothe Adam and Eve after they sinned and tried to hide from God, clothing themselves with leaves.  They suffered severe consequences but God still loved them and had mercy on them.  

BECAUSE WE HAVE "all sinned and come short..." (Romans 3:23) we all need a way to have our sin forgiven and make us fit to have friendship with God.  God provided a way for every one of us to be forgiven and made right with God.  He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to become the perfect (sinless) sacrifice for our sin.

HOW TERRIBLE IS SIN?  Sin caused the sinless Son of God to suffer horrible, bestial treatment at the hands of men.  As our willing sacrifice, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree." (I Peter 2:24)

"FOR GOD SO LOVED the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believed in Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
We are all sinners, separated from God by our sin.  By His grace, we can believe that Jesus' death and resurrection paid our sin-debt.  We then need to make it very personal by inviting Jesus to be "my Savior," whose sacrifice was sufficient for "my sin."

WHEN YOU THUS OPEN YOUR HEART to God's forgiveness through His Son, you become a child of God.  "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

BY THE WAY, GOD DID ASSIGN DIFFERENT roles to men and women.  Through the ages, that distinction has been distorted and used to wreak injustices on women.  Jesus gave women great respect and dignity when He lived on earth.

May God bless each one who has the patience to read this long essay. IF YOU SEEK GOD with an open mind and a willing heart, He will satisfy your desire to know Him.

"So if the Son sets you free,
you shall be free indeed."
(John 8:36)