Genesis 3 – Thoughts From My Devotions


And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Gen 3:2-3)

I know that I have stated this in other places, but I was reminded again of a danger. The sin here was in listening to the serpent and eating of the tree.  But a root of the problem came in ascribing words and laws to God that He did not give. There was nothing wrong in not touching the tree. It probably was a good standard to set in order to keep from eating of the tree (if you don’t touch it, you surely won’t eat of it). But it must be remembered that that was a manmade law, not the law of God. We are very good at setting rules for ourselves that help us stay clean and close to God — no televisions in our houses, etc. But we must remember that those rules are manmade. They do not keep us closer to God, and if someone else doesn’t keep them, they are not disobedient to God. These are “house rules,” not God’s law. Really, Adam and Eve were the first legalists.

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1 Comment

  1. I have thought of this too – like the Pharisees, they built walls around the laws – so they wouldn’t break God’s laws – and then their manmade rules, instead of being helps to them, became rules that they enforced on others. I see that in churches too at times. There is nothing necessarily wrong with a rule – with where someone draws the line in their life so they will stay separated, sold out, and devoted to the Lord – but then the line they drew for themselves because the absolute standard for the church and/or other Christians they come into contact with.

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