God to Adam: Have YOU eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?
Adam: It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit…
God to Eve: What have YOU done?
Eve: The serpent deceived me…
God to the serpent: Because YOU have done this you are cursed...
God to Adam: The ground is cursed because of YOU...it will grow thorns and thistles for YOU."
God to Eve: …in pain YOU will give birth.
Genesis 3:11-19
Our human nature makes us want to blame someone else when we find ourselves in trouble. Adam blamed Eve for his actions and Eve blamed the serpent. However, God demonstrated who was responsible when He addressed each one of the three with YOU! Not only were they each at fault, but each reaped their own harvest of pain.
Pain and suffering, terms never known before, became a part of daily life. The formerly beautiful serpent would now crawl in the dust and battle with man for his life. Adam and Eve, who formerly enjoyed the Garden’s abundance, would now labor painfully, Eve to give birth to children and Adam to feed them.
God’s descriptions of consequences included the torment of thorns and thistles, weeds that were never a part of God’s original, ALL good creation. Thorns and thistles were the result of Adam and Eve’s choices. They chose THEIR way rather than trusting God’s, and that decision brought untold pain to their lives.
Sadly, when we choose our own way, we reap the same harvest—painful thorns that quickly overtake our lives. But the God who came looking for Adam AFTER his selfish choice, comes looking for us too. God never wanted anyone to experience the pain of thorns; that’s why He always had a plan…
JESUS, His Son, willingly bore our painful thorns!
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