Good AND Evil
By Peggy Kleckner
“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:5
Our pastor included this verse in his preaching recently. It rolled around in my heart for the next several days. You probably remember the context: Eve is having a chat with Satan. To some degree, they are discussing God. Right here, Satan plants his seed of doubt in Eve’s thoughts. She begins to ponder if what God said is true. She begins to toy with the idea that God may be holding out on them.
I found it fascinating that she never asked Satan to tell her what good and evil are? She didn’t ask him if he knew them both. She just started to wonder if she was missing something.
My thoughts turned to, “Are you kidding me? Eve, you already know (have the experiential knowledge of) good. Why do you want to know evil?” What a fateful day when mankind wanted more than what God was already providing!
Truly, we do have to forgive Eve. After all, haven’t we all done the same thing somewhere along our path of life? God’s Word states it this way, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Somewhere, some time, we look around and think that God is holding out on us. Someone tells us we’re missing out on something. Some commercial tells us we have “need” of something that we don’t already own. Suddenly, we aren’t happy with what God has already provided us. Essentially, we are choosing to distrust our Creator.
Oh, that we would recognize God’s extreme goodness and His true love for us! All of Scripture speaks of a God who pursues us, who relentlessly loves us. “But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God loves us so much that although we choose to disobey, He sent His Son to endure our punishment.
Christ came to redeem us - - we need only to turn to Him and trust Him to provide all that we need. He is our provider. When the snake slithers up to us with his lies, we need only to look into the face of our Redeemer and ask Him to answer for us.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What circumstance in your life today is pulling your eyes away from your Redeemer?2. Are you willing to ask God to help your unbelief in the areas in which you are struggling to trust Him?
FURTHER READING:
Proverbs 3:5; 1 Cor. 10:13; Psalm 34Peggy is a wife and mother of four adult children - - two sons and two stepsons, and is an active encourager at Oakwood Church. She serves as the Coordinator of Fresh Start.
