Genesis 3:4-7

The First Sin

When you focus on the rules, you’ll end up breaking the rules. When you focus on the relationship, you will hold strong when tempted. Adam and Eve give in to the serpent and eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They give no fight. They don’t talk about how God will be disappointed. They don’t say how important their connection is with God. None of that. Once the seed was planted in their brains, they gave in, and everything changed.

When we don’t run away from sin and temptation, it will be more likely that we will give in. The longer Adam and Eve listened to the serpent and were near the tree, the greater the chance they would eat the fruit. In order to combat temptation, we need to focus on our relationship with God. We need to fill our minds with God’s words so that when we face temptation, we can fight back. This is what Jesus does when he is tempted in the wilderness. Jesus, as the second Adam, succeeds when the first Adam did not. The reason? Jesus had done what Adam did not. Jesus hid God’s word in his heart, so that he might not sin (cf. Ps. 119:11). 

If you want to succeed against temptation, you must have a strong relationship with God and remember His words. If you don’t, you’ll be just like Adam and Eve, who gave in to the serpent.