I listened to a sermon by Kris Emerson at the Lindale church of Christ the other day while I was running. He was looking at some of the first sins we see in the Bible and what we can learn about how sin might work in our lives. I thought there were some good thoughts there that I might use in a sermon and might still preach, but since we are currently in the New Testament reading program, I thought I would share them in some articles.
The first sin, of course, is Adam and Eve in Genesis three. God has blessed Adam and Eve with all kinds of blessings in the garden, but He withheld one thing from them: the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. The serpent hits hard at that point. You are missing out. God is holding back blessings from you. This reminds me of my life. I am blessed in multiple ways beyond what I deserve, but there are some things of which God has said I should not partake. I can see those things and think I am missing out. Everyone else is doing it, and they seem to be enjoying those things. Sometimes the one thing that I cannot have overshadows the blessings in my life. Am I going to trust God or take what I want? Does God not care about my happiness? If I had that thing (sex, material things, power, etc) my life would be so much better.
I, like Adam and Eve, find out that which I thought I could not live without does not live up to the hype. In fact, I am often worse off than before. What happened to Adam and Eve? Their eyes were opened. That led to broken fellowship with God, each other (passing blame around), and expulsion from the blessings of God (the garden). Do you think they ever looked back and wished they had never eaten that fruit? If they are like me, they did. Because I have done that in my life. Let me encourage you to trust God and be content with the blessings He has given you.