A Garden Void of Discernment

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS

The garden in Eden was a trouble-free environment for its inhabitants, a literal earthly paradise. Adam and Eve were given one basic commandment to obey. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Interestingly, up until this point, they only knew good. The Devil knew this and deviously crept into the garden. He wanted to tempt Eve with the fruit from this forbidden tree. He convinced her that that tree would enable her to know both good and evil. Eve already had the ability to discern, though severely limited based on the limited number of choices available. She certainly could have refused the temptation choosing rather to obey the Lord. God had given Adam and Eve everything needed to be successful in the garden including the ability to do right. Eve’s desire to know good and evil prompted her to overlook the fact that she already had been given the gift of discernment.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For children): Making wrong choices produces bad results. In addition to getting in trouble, what else could happen if you disobediently run in your home or at church, jump on furniture, or talk ugly to someone?

• (For everyone): What were the consequences resulting from Adam and Eve not using their God-given ability to discern? Are there consequences for us today when we fail to use discernment? What might they be?

• Do you make choices without using godly discernment? Do you rush to a decision without thinking through the potential consequences? What changes could you make in order to use discernment?

PRAYER THOUGHTS

• Ask God to show you the importance of godly discernment.

• Ask God to clearly reveal the times when you are not discerning as you ought.

SONG: Yield Not to Temptation

Pastor Andrew Ray

Devotions on Discernment