The Voice of Eve by Becky Lovatt* (Used with permission)
I guess you could say that humanity’s downfall began with us — Adam and me, and that wretched snake. If it hadn’t been for the snake everything would have been fine. Well... that’s what I like to tell myself: anyway.
God created heaven and earth, and sea and sky. Then God made Adam, and from Adam he fashioned me. He set us both over and above all the other animals and plants he had formed.
“Roam in my garden,” he told us. “Make it your own; name the beasts and flowers for me. Just don’t eat from the tree in the middle.”
We had so much to choose from - the whole garden was ours — and yet I was drawn to the one tree we were told to keep clear of. I was attracted, it’s true. Somehow, it seemed to draw me to itself, almost as if it was silently calling my name. However, I am sure I could have stayed strong — if only it hadn’t been for that snake.
The creature goaded me, tempting me. It told me all kinds of untruths about how God wouldn’t know — or wouldn’t mind. I fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
It would not have been so bad if had left it there, but I didn’t. I got Adam involved as well. I became the tempter - the ‘devil on his shoulder’, the barbed wire pricking at his skin.
Before long we had both eaten from the tree whose fruit had been forbidden. Suddenly, our eyes were opened; we recognised our naked bodies. We had become like God, with the knowledge of good and evil.
We heard our creator coming, walking in the cool of the evening. We hid, but God called to us. “Come close, my children, and walk with me,” he said.
When we finally appeared, our father knew that we had betrayed him. He knew instantly that we had eaten from the tree. We had to come clean and confess to what we had done.
Adam blamed me. I blamed the snake. Yet each of us had to endure the punishment. The snake and all his kind were sentenced to crawl on their bellies and eat dust for the rest of their existence. I, and all of womankind, would experience pain in childbirth. Adam, and all
mankind, would have to work hard their whole lives in order to eat, and would ultimately die.
We were banished from the garden — left to go our own way and fend for ourselves. We had become separated from God — a wedge driven between us; a wound that could only be healed though another’s life laid down and a sacrifice made. The tempter had gained the upper hand; God, it seemed, had been defeated.
However, we were cradled in love. Even though we had been so easily lured, God did not abandon us. We had children of our own. They grew into a strong and powerful race that populated the earth. We had eaten from the tree of knowledge and opened a crack that would become a chasm, a void between God’s people and their creator. Even then, there was a plan in place — a plan for repentance, for healing and for grace.
Creator God, help me not to succumb to the temptations I face on earth and to keep my eyes fixed on the goals of heaven. - When I am tempted, keep me strong; and if I fail, remind me that I am still loved and cared for by you. Amen.
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