Seeking What is Not Ours to Have

Genesis 3:6

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

It's interesting to see here how this all plays out. Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was 1) good for food, 2) pleasing to the eyes, & 3) desirable to make one wise. Why did the first of those two matter? She had all the food she could want in the garden. There were all kinds of trees that bear fruit. There were apples, oranges, pears, plums, kiwi, etc., etc., etc. You name it, it was there. There was no lack of food. Fruit was freely available. There were also plenty of trees, bushes, flowers, & shrubberies that were pleasing to the eyes. The garden was just that. It was a haven of cultivated textures, sounds, smells, and beautiful sights. The woman could have found fruit & beauty anywhere she wanted to.

I don't think that the issue so much is that Eve was looking for beauty and food. I believe that the issue is that she hadn't looked at this tree in that way before. We can go by the same tree, the same house, the same person each and every day and never really see them. Then suddenly something is pointed out to us, or we begin to notice something and nonchalance becomes notice, and notice becomes obsession. I firmly believe that previously Eve had seen this tree as off limits. It was not an issues because she knew she couldn't have it, so she put it out of her mind. Now all of a sudden she begins to notice what previously had not been an issue. More than that she began to dwell and her focus became this tree and its fruit. This ultimately led to her and their fall.

The same thing happens to us in our relationships and marriages. We tend to get focused and stuck on something we want and don't have or something we don't want and are stuck with. We see in other things and people what we desire for ourselves and we allow that to become a focus and obsession. How many men see a good looking girl or watch something unfold and it brings a desire for that in their own life? How many women see what looks like a great marriage or relationship on tv or that a friend has, takes the positive aspects of that relationship, and wishes that their relationship or marriage was like that? Don't get me wrong. The desire for a better relationship or marriage is not necessarily a bad or wrong desire. It is when that desire becomes a driving force in our lives and instead of building us up, tears us apart and draws us to destroy what we have.

The fruit had been forbidden for Eve, so she ignored it. She knew it wasn't allowed, so in her mind she didn't even acknowledge it. However, when it was brought to her attention, instead of turning away from the desire, she embraced it. Instead of accepting that it wasn't hers to take, she allowed it to take her. That in turn brought the fall and her own destruction.

Image from Nanon used under cc license.