This year I have decided to read through the Bible in a different translation than I usually use. This time reading Genesis 3:1-8, I questioned Eve’s identity. Since sin had not entered the world yet, Eve had everything she would ever need and want. But I wondered if Eve eats from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the one God said not to because Eve fears she isn’t enough.
Think about this. Doesn’t it look like Eve doubted what God had said? Doesn’t it look like Eve needed to be in control? When Eve had the conversation with the serpent, the enemy, that started the doubt and disconnect from God, her life source. This conversation with the serpent caused an opening to plant a seed of fear in Eve to doubt that God was withholding what she thought she needed to be enough. With fear now being her identity, she will have to control things to cope with her anxiety.
We are all tempted like Eve every day of our lives. Temptations will not stop being presented to us, but it is how we will respond when tempted to sin. So, this begs the question, how do we resist temptation?
If your identity is not in Christ, not in His Truth, His Goodness, and knowing you are worthy enough for Jesus to die instead of you, then you will doubt His Love for you. Doubt leads to deception, which leads to desire, then to a decision. And often, just like Eve, our choices cause us to exchange our abundant life for a corrupted life because of fear.
Ask yourself if you are so focused on your circumstances that you have taken your eyes off the Prince of Peace, the One who rescues you from yourself. When we stop remaining in Him (John 15:4-5), we become disconnected from Truth. And it is only the Truth that will set us free.
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6a
If you keep reading the book of Genesis Chapter 3, you will see the compassion of the Lord as this is where He first announces the Gospel, verses 14-15. God is merciful to Adam and Eve and tells them what Jesus will do. And God’s compassion continues by clothing them so they would come out of hiding. But God also did a tremendous act of mercy by banishing them from the Garden of Eden.
We all have fallen into temptation. God knows that we do, and we will. But He is merciful. And we are to pray for strength to resist, to remove ourselves from a tempting situation, and to soak in God’s Truth. With our minds and eyes set on things above and not earthly things, fear will not be our companion, and our identity will continue to be in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Make 2023 a year of less doubt, fear, and anxiety. Let this year be the year you spend more time in God’s Word, and let Him transform you to be all He intended.
For a great Chronological Bible reading plan, check out “The Bible Recap,” www.thebiblerecap.com, podcast, or book.