The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Devotion based on Genesis 3:12

The Lord had given Adam and Eve a specific command. It was a command by which they could celebrate their trust in his will for their lives. The command was simple: In the middle of the Garden of Eden, there is a special tree. Do not eat the fruit from that tree.

But Adam and Eve, tempted by Satan, chose to eat from this tree anyway. When they did, they severed their bond of trust with their Lord, and sin oozed into its place.

All this sets the stage for what happens next. God, of course, knows what has gone wrong. In love, he approaches Adam. He calls upon Adam to acknowledge the obvious. He asks Adam, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Adam could simply reply, “Yes.” But he doesn’t. Instead, the answer Adam gives might very well be one of the most groan-inducing statements in all of the Bible. His answer is this: “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

In his short reply, not only does Adam blame his wife, but he also blames God. In his fantasy land of pure rationalization, Adam concludes that the fall into sin is not his fault.

You and I can see ourselves in Adam and his reply. In our sinful weakness, we love to identify someone else as the problem. We love to cite extenuating circumstances as to why our sinful behavior is understandable. There are even moments when we conclude that if God had not allowed this person or that problem into our life, we would have done much better; thank you very much.

Thank God that his Spirit can still pierce my calloused heart. Thank God his Word still calls me to repentance. Thank God the message of the cross and the empty tomb can still bring me back home.

Prayer: