What was Adam thinking?!?!?

This blog post is going to be different than ALL of my other posts, which I do realize is not very many, but nevertheless this will be different. A little background: I have finished Read Through the Bible in 90 Days, Read Through the Bible in 6 Months, and have today started Read Through the Bible in 3 Years. I know big jump! I found an app on my phone and just put in today as my start date and took off. This particular app, Bible Base, leads you through the Old Testament once and the New Testament 3 times over a 3 year period. Hopefully, this will force encourage me to study a little harder and not just read words (I realize I am the ONLY one who does this)!

The rest of the story is that Micah and I are planning to go to Mexico City in November and I have to speak to a group of women (DEEP BREATHS!!!) I am so nervous about this that I start to feel sick just typing about it. I have never spoken in front of  a group of women (or anyone for that matter) and have no idea where to begin. So my plan is to begin this Bible Reading program and put down my thoughts about daily readings that really speak to me. And while doing this in a Microsoft Word document is a choice, and honestly I probably should, I figure I'll just put them on here and my parents, siblings, and in-laws can read them. Because in all honesty, that's probably the extent of my reader list!! So here goes...

Today's Reading: Genesis 3:1 - 24
This is the Chapter where the serpent tempts Eve, she eats of the fruit, offers to Adam, he eats of the fruit, they hide from God, God clothes them, God curses the serpent, Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden of Eden. Ok, that is the story in a nutshell. But a few specific things spoke to me in this reading.

• Eve gets most of the blame in this story, ok all the blame and rightfully so. But in verse 6 Eve "gave also unto her husband WITH her; and he did eat". It didn't say that Eve had to go look for Adam but that he was with her. It appears that Adam was watching this exchange and looking on. This could take a lot of directions here (wife not following husband, husband not leading house, etc) but the direction I want to take is that Adam was watching this sin. Watching his wife be tempted. He must have seen that Eve "saw that the tree was good for food... [and] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise". Instead of warning Eve of where she was headed, instead of discouraging her from eating, maybe Adam simply stood by and watched Eve head down the path to sin...and followed her. How often do I do this? Do I stand by and watch others be lured into the path to sin and say nothing? Do I watch people make decisions that are going to have a negative impact on the rest of their life and never warn them? Do I follow others down paths of sin when I KNOW better? As easy as it is to see where Adam should have stepped up and said something, sadly, I too have stood by and simply followed.

• Not to keep picking on poor Adam, but on down in verse 12, Adam tells God "the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat". How about this? How often do I blame others? How often do I say,"if God would not have done this then I would not have done that"? I may not say it out loud but I know I think it. God may have allowed them to be tempted but 1  Corinthians 10:13 says "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it". God doesn't promise that we won't be tempted, nor does he promise that he will jerk us right up out of the midst of temptation but that we will be able to bear it. It might not be pleasant...it will probably be very painful but God promises we will be able to bear it! (Maybe Adam didn't know this because the letters to the Corinthians were not written yet!?)

• Finally, I love that in verse 20, after all the two have been through, Adam calls his wife "Eve, the mother of all living". Although Adam and Eve had traveled down a road of sin, hid from God and suffered greatly for it, Adam still had faith and was looking to the future with hope. Adam had faith and trusted in the promises of God (verses 15 and 16). Thankfully, God still gives hope for the future. Thankfully, God still holds to his promises. He fulfilled his promise of sending our Savior, Jesus Christ. We must have faith to follow. No matter what road of sin we have traveled or are even traveling now, God is still calling us, seeking us, and wants us to turn back to him.

I do not profess to be a theologian or even know very much about the Bible. These are just a few things that spoke to me in this Chapter. I am just putting in writing what the Lord is speaking to me as I read these verses and try to study them. If I am off or out of line on anything, please let me know. And by all means, prayers for November are GREATLY appreciated!!