What was Eden like? I have been to many beautiful places in my life, but I don't imagine any of those places could equal Eden. Eden was truly a paradise: a place of comfort, a place of security, a place of fulfillment, a place of no need. Eden was truly Paradise: a place where God and man were close and at peace.
Then, man wanted more. Adam and Even, though God had given them everything they could ever need, wanted more. You remember the sales pitch: "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3.4b-5). The pitch worked: "the woman saw . . . that the fruit was a delight to the eyes, and that it was to be desired" (3.6). Adam and Eve had all of their needs provided for--they lived in a paradise created for them, yet they wanted more.
Isn't that desire--the desire for more--a motivation behind sin? That is the temptation that we face daily. We are always looking past what we have to view, and desire, more appealing things. "If I could only have that," we say, "then I could be happy"; this said, despite God's blessings that fill our lives.
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