Garden of Eden

So I've been trying something new the past week or so. I've felt challenged to go back into the Old Testament and re-read many of the "typical Sunday School" stories. You know the ones that I mean. The stories that you hear over and over again during Sunday School as a little kid: David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, Jacob and Esau, Adam and Eve.
Now don't get me wrong. I think it is great that we've heard these stories so many times. It is important to read and re-read. This time though, I am really trying to grasp something from these stories that I've never grasped before. It is interesting that as I do this, God is revealing some really applicable stuff to me-new applications though. Thus, I figured I'd reveal it to all two of you who like to read my thoughts. So here we go.

First off, check out Genesis chapter 3.

After you've read that, think about what really stands out to you in the story. Was it the Serpent's craftiness? How about Adam's willingness to eat something he was told explicitly not to? Maybe it was simply the stupidity of Adam and Eve to listen to a stinking snake, which in turn got them kicked out of the Garden. I mean come on guys, it was PARADISE! How can you screw up that bad!?

I'm sure most of those things stuck out to you. They always have for me, at least. Last week when I re-read this story though a new point stuck out to me. One that I wished I would have payed attention to long ago.

Adam and Eve were tempted to eat the fruit not because of it's taste or beauty. They were tempted to eat the fruit because it would give them the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve ate the fruit because they thought they were ready for a responsibility that God knew they were not ready for.
Think about that for a minute. Eating the fruit didn't just get them kicked out of the garden. Eating the fruit gave them a laundry list of responsibilities that, before they ate, they did not have! Look back at Genesis 3: 16-19. We're talking big time responsibility here. Eve would have some serious child birth issues now and Adam was going to have to take care of her through those times. Food was no longer just going to be all around them. Instead, thorns and thistles would be and they would have to tend the ground, plant their food, and be responsible for it while it grew. Oh, and did I mention that they were going to die now? This brings a whole new meaning for taking care of someone, because if you don't, they die. That's a pretty big responsibility!
Hey Adam and Eve, after you got kicked out of the Garden, did you still feel like you were ready to take on all these new responsibilities? Probably not. God knew that too. That's why he told you not to eat from that tree! Check out that picture! (Sure it's probably not accurate!) But look at what you walked away from because you wanted more responsibilities. What a joke!

It's easy for me to bash them though. I've never really taken on responsibilities that I wasn't ready for...?

Have you?