Thoughts for the Day

The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?' He said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.' He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' The man said, 'The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.' Then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this that you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent tricked me, and I ate.'

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We have to be clear that temptation is not sin, the two are entirely different. In our story from Genesis, though, we see where temptation becomes sin. Eve is tempted to eat the apple which looks so tasty. She could have refused the snake's offer; she knew that she had been forbidden to eat it. But she gave in to the temptation. In other words she broke God's commandment and committed a sin. Similarly, Adam who was present when she picked the apple and giving it to him, gave in to his temptation and committed a sin.

In our Gospels we later see Jesus in the wilderness who is tempted and who endures the ultimate spiritual battle, but who doesn't give way.

Jesus teaches us that we should love God, each other, and our neighbour. When we are tempted, we should measure our actions against these commands before making a decision to act.

Lord God,
we are often tempted
to make decisions
that only suit ourselves;
or we give them little thought.
Help us to make decisions
that take You and others
into consideration,
rather than only
our own selfish desires.
Amen.