To the Editor,

What if Adam had just said no to Eve, or what if Adam had followed today’s advice of “see something, say nothing?” But Adam did neither one. He just took a bite of the food from the tree God had told both Adam and Eve to not eat of.

Next time God came to the Garden of Eden, both Adam and Eve hid from him. If God didn’t know something bad had happened, He knew it now, and He wanted a confession from both.

When Adam told God they were hidden because they were naked, that told the whole story. “Who told thee that thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”

Immediately, Adam put the blame on God and Eve, and said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” When God asked Eve, ‘What is this that thou hast done?,” Eve followed Adam’s lead. It wasn’t Eve’s fault! She blamed the serpent who “Beguiled (deceived) me, and I did eat.”

Both Adam and Eve knew better that to deny eating the forbidden food, but neither wanted to take the blame. And where is that serpent? He is gone! Once Satan has caused the worst trouble possible he moves on to his next victims. The awful trouble Satan has caused here is the fall of all mankind.

Sin has entered into all humans. Death now has come. We must all give God an accounting of our sins–with no excuses–for each sin we’ve done. Humans are yet to learn of faith in God’s truth.

Satan questioned God’s truth. God had said, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Satan told Eve this was not true. He said, “Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes will be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.”

Ephesians 6 tells us beginning at verse 10 what Adam and Eve needed–and what we need today–to send away the temptations to do wrongs. Verse 16 says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, where with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” All the armour of God is important, but I sure do wish Adam and Eve could have had enough faith in God to talk it over with Him.

Prayer changes things for us today. The people who followed Adam and Eve used animal sacrifices to answer for their sins.

After Jesus was crucified–and was then resurrected from the dead–we didn’t need sacrifices anymore. Now Jesus is our High Priest we go to in our Christian faith. We can receive an undeserved favor called grace. To have our faith in God and receive the grace we don’t deserve, we must stay in daily contact with God through prayer and study of his Bible.

Romans 10:9 sums it up pretty good for us today. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth to the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Mary C. Albertson

Albany, Kentucky