We Do Fall Sometimes
Genesis 3
In Genesis Chapter three, the Bible gives an account about the Fall of man. In verse 1, the serpent, the clever among any animal of the field that the Lord had made, approached the woman. He asked the woman if God had denied them access to any tree in the garden. The woman in verse 2 responded that they were to eat from any tree in the garden apart from the tree in the middle of the garden. She explained that God had given conditions that that tree would lead them to death.
In verse 4 the serpent convinces the woman that she would not die and even God knows the fact that if they eat from that tree, their eyes would open and become like God, knowing good and evil. The woman was convinced and ate from the tree and even gave her husband a piece from. This later on made them realize that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
In verse 8 to 9, when they both heard the voice of the Lord as He was walking in the garden during the breeze of the day, the hid from Him. So the Lord called out to man and asked Him where he was. The man responded and told God that they were hiding because they realized that they were naked. God was surprised and asked him if he had eaten from the tree he had forbidden them from. Man accused, the woman claiming it was her who had given it to him. The woman then accused the serpent for misleading her.
From verse 14 to 17, God gave man, woman and the serpent penalties for their mistakes. In verse 14, the serpent was cursed among all the livestock and earth’s animals. It would crawl on its belly and eat dust as long as it lives. Hostility was brought between the woman and the serpent and the hostility extended among their offspring.
The woman’s pain during childbirth was increased. His husband as well would dominate him. Finally, for man, the ground was cursed because of him. He would it from it through pain-filled labor for the rest of his life. The ground would produce thorns and thistles. In verse 19 God then says,” You will eat food by the sweat of your brow until you’re buried in the ground, because you were taken from it. You’re made from dust and you’ll return to dust.”
The man named his wife Eve. Later on the Lord expelled the man from the garden of Eden so he would work the ground from which he had been taken. After expelling the man, God placed winged angels at the eastern end of the garden of Eden along with a fiery turning sword, to prevent access to the tree of life.
Relevance to us
In our life assignments, we do face moments that temptations overcome us. They usually come in forms that we never expected. In the chapter, the woman was approached by a clever creature that gave her reasons to disobey God’s command. We humans also have such moments. It might be your secretary, trying to ruin your marriage. It might be your business partner convincing you to exploit your clients.
In our world today there are rules and regulations set in any given organization or institution. In our life as well we have a constitution that has laws set to govern our day today activities. By abiding to these set rules and regulations, we will have a life well lived. Disobeying however, leads to many consequences and in many cases it is usually arrest and later on, a jail sentence.
In Genesis Chapter 2, God had given the man and woman an assignment to govern and take care of the garden. In our lives we have been given unique assignments to fulfill. We might have an assignment in Preaching the gospel. Let us assume that God blesses you with a very successful ministry. God will only uplift your ministry if you stick to the Laws in the Bible. By collecting tithes and misusing them for one’s personal gains, will lead to a downfall just like man in the garden of Eden.
In our society today we have witnessed many people ruin their careers because of minor mistakes they made. Politicians for instance are usually allocated funds to help society. Because they know no one is watching and they would easily escape, they end up stealing fraction of the money for their own personal gains. What they forget is that God is watching, just like He did in the garden of Eden. We might deceive man, but God watches what we do even in the dark.
In many cases we usually witness, chaos and bad breaks in the lives later on. This are the consequences that come for not following set regulations and rules. Shame comes also as a result of realizing your mistakes. You lose trust from your close companions such as your family members. The person they thought you are, was just a sheep’s clothing. We therefore need to be very careful with our daily dealings. Let us all strive to be truthful with what we do and reap only what we have sowed.
Any moment we face the urge to be untruthful, let us always keep in mind this story. If we remain vigilant at all times, I assure you that God will bless you abundantly. If man and woman had kept God’s commands they would have lived forever and death would not be in our midst. Just imagine how it would be without me and you ever facing death.
