READING: Genesis 3-5
“You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it.
For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
Genesis 3:19
The earth would turn against human beings, producing thorns and thistles that made it more difficult to produce food. The marriage relationship would have strains and conflicts not previously there. Hostility between the evil one and human beings would increase. Women would bear pain in childbirth. And, people would die – so recurrently that the first brother would kill his sibling (Gen. 4:1-16), and the family records of early history would echo with the words, “then he died” (e.g., Gen. 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17).
All of this occurred when sin entered the world in Genesis 3:1-7. Adam and Eve rejected the light and chased after the darkness, and the repercussions were both personal and far-reaching. The first human beings would never be the same, and nor would the world.
How I wish all of us understood that our sinful choices have consequences for us and for others. We know that truth when we think about the “big story” of the Bible, but we too often fail to apply that same truth to our own lives. It makes sense to us to say, “For whatever a person sows he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7) as long as we’re not that person. The reaping is for others to experience, not us. Adam and Eve are a reminder, though, that our choices deeply affect us—and the world around us.
ACTION STEPS:
- When temptation comes today, pause long enough to think about the potential consequences. Assume they will come.
- Run from temptation to the God who loves you.
PRAYER: “Father, remind me that the consequences of my choices are real, even if they don’t occur immediately.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Genesis 6-7
