One Small Decision

Today's Reading: Genesis 3:14-24

This has been an interesting week in The Story as we have studied the fall of man in our Bible classes and LifeGroups. I don't know about your class or group, but interesting questions have popped up in both of mine. Things like whether or not Eve had experienced childbirth when God said He would increase her pains in childbearing, where was Adam when Eve was talking with the serpent, why did God have to drive them out of the Garden? It makes for lots of interesting discussion and speculation. And it probably adds to the list of questions that we all plan to ask God when we get to heaven!

What's interesting to me in today's reading is the outline of the discipline that God is taking with all three perpetrators. First He holds everyone responsible. Earlier in the chapter the serpent is described as crafty. But God didn't let him off just because he was doing what you would expect a crafty serpent to do. And Adam and Eve didn't get off the hook because they were deceived by the serpent. They had been given instructions from the mouth of God and were expected to obey them. No, there were still consequences to everyone's actions and God held them accountable.

And secondly, each sin had consequences that reached far beyond what any of them could have imagined. The serpent was destined to crawl on his belly for the rest of his life...and so were his descendants. Adam and Eve were introduced to death and suffering and the desire to sin for the rest of their lives...and we all see the consequences of that in our own lives. None of us sin in a vacuum. There are always consequences and they almost always will go much further than we ever dreamed.

Accountability and far-reaching consequences. That's a lot to have to learn from one small decision. And maybe that's the biggest lesson of all. When it comes to our Christian walk, there are no small decisions...especially in regards to sin. We will always be held accountable and someone will always get hurt. Isn't it just easier to be obedient from the start?

- Holly Barrett