Do you ever get taken in by the promised rewards of sin? I do. Here’s how it usually works for me:
- I listen to its plusses
- I think about its plusses
- I desire its plusses
- I act upon its plusses
Does that sound familiar? I think we all recognize that pattern, don’t we? Do you want to break it? We can do so with the help of Genesis 3:6-8. The first sin began with exactly the same pattern.
SIN PROMISES A GREAT TASTE (6)
Eve listened to sin’s plusses, thought about its plusses, desired its plusses, and acted upon its plusses. What plusses did sin attract her with?
- Satisfaction: The fruit was good for food
- Happiness: The fruit was a delight to the eyes
- Progress: The fruit will make me wise.
That sounds very attractive. That’s a lot of plusses, isn’t it? Why shouldn’t I have a taste? What could possibly be wrong with satisfaction, happiness, and progress?
SIN PRODUCES A BITTER POISON (7-8)
I once asked a server in a restaurant, “What’s your speciality?” “Our Calamari is amazing!” she beamed. I actually didn’t know what that was, but didn’t want to admit it, and therefore responded, “Great, I’ll have the Calamari then.”
It looked quite nice when it arrived, sort of like pasta. Then I put it in my mouth. The initial taste was fine but then I tried to bite into what I thought was pasta. It had a disgusting rubbery type of texture. I couldn’t even get my teeth through it.
What on earth was this? I looked it up on Google – Squid! Yuk!! I couldn’t get it out of my mouth fast enough. I found it hard to eat anything after that.
I was so looking forward to my meal, but it couldn’t have been more disappointing or disgusting. Sin is like that. It promises a great taste but produces a bitter poison. Look at what happened to Adam and Eve.
- Shame: Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths (7)
- Fear: And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves (8).
- Retreat: And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden (8).
That’s an even worse taste and texture than Calamari isn’t it.
Sin promises a great taste but always produces a bitter poison. It promises satisfaction but produces shame, it promises happiness but produces fear, it promises progress but produces retreat.
Believe that sin is never a positive but always a negative. It’s always a poison and never a slap-up meal.
There’s only one person we can truly rely on and that’s Jesus. In the Gospel he promises satisfaction, happiness, and progress. And he always keeps his promises.
This episode of Living the Bible lines up with Expedition 2: Day 2 in Exploring the Bible Together: A 52 Week Family Worship Plan and Exploring the Bible: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids. You can catch up with previous episodes of the Living the Bible podcast here or subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcast.
