Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 (NRSV)
Read Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
Verse 16And the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; Verse 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."
Chapter 3Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Verse 2The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; Verse 3but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" Verse 4But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; Verse 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Verse 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Verse 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Devotion
Not all questions are of the same weight or fruit. Questions were already dogging the residents of the Garden there at the beginning, and seeking to shoot holes in the promises of God. "Did God really say?" "God knows...your eyes will be opened; you will not die!" Surprise! Eyes and ears are opened in this scene, but the residents see and hear something quite different from their expectations. They quickly learned the truth of the now ageless wisdom: What you sow is what you reap. When they sow suspicion, it is not surprising that they find themselves the naked victims of their distrust. It is not easy to live as ones who trust in promises. There are so many things in the world that compete for our attention or our allegiance. It will demand a God who will not abandon us but who comes again and again to speak the promises and call us again to trust.
Prayer
Faithful God, teach us to keep our eyes and our ears fixed on your promises, and so help us to silence all those questions and suspicions, some even from within ourselves, whose only end is to lead us away from putting all our trust in you. Amen.