A few days ago, I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop; and a young mother and her little girl came in. The mother ordered some egg bites for the little girl and a drink for herself. They sat at a table right in front of me. When the mother’s drink was ready, she started to get it; but she warned the little girl not to touch the eggs. She warned a second time, “Do not touch.” She walked toward the counter, and the little girl watched her, all the time moving her hand closer to the eggs. Her eyes followed her mother; and when the mother looked down to pick up her drink, the little girl’s fingers moved down to the eggs. She quickly touched them, then removed her hand before her mother could see what she had done. I had to smile at the scene I had just witnessed, and I realized we are so much like that little girl, even as adults.
When Eve ate the fruit forbidden by God, Scripture says that when she saw that the fruit was good for food, a delight to the eyes, and it was desired to make her wise, she ate it (Genesis 3:6). Adam blamed his eating the fruit on Eve, and Eve blamed it on the serpent. God’s answer blamed all three. God told the serpent, “Because you have done this…” To the woman he said, “I will…”, and to the man He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife…” (Genesis 3:14-17). The guilt was placed on all three.
King Saul had the same problem. God told him to “utterly destroy the Amalekites” in First Samuel 15. Saul did defeat them, but he did not utterly destroy them. He saved King Agag and the best of the sheep and the oxen. When Samuel confronted King Saul, his answer was, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal” (First Samuel 15:20-21).
When King David was confronted with his sin with Bathsheba, the murder of her husband, and his taking Bathsheba as his wife, God was angry with him. God sent Samuel to confront the king, and his response was different than that of King Saul. He said, “I have sinned against the LORD.” He blamed no one but himself. He did not justify his sin but rather owned it.
When the apostle Paul stood before the people in Jerusalem, he openly confessed that he persecuted the people of the Way (Christians). He said that he bound them and delivered them to prison (Acts 22:1-4). He made no excuses.
In the case of Eve, she believed the lies of the serpent. King Saul deliberately defied the instructions of God to destroy the Amalekites. King David was tempted by what he saw and wanted, but he admitted his sin and took his punishment. The apostle Paul was taught the truth and obeyed it because he realized he was wrong.
The little girl at the beginning of my article escaped both harm and punishment. She escaped because she didn’t get caught. This may encourage her to try it again. She may not be so lucky the next time.
Eve, Saul, and David all suffered the consequences of their mistakes; and Paul had to live with the memories of what he had done as well.
What can we learn from all of these?. First Peter 1 tells us, “Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
I think that verse says it all.
Sandra Oliver