"And the eyes of them both
were opened, and they knew that they were naked..." Genesis 3:7
Nobody likes a “know-it-all,” especially God. You only have
to read the story of our original parents in the Garden of Eden to know this is
true.
Knowledge
is very seductive. At least, it is to me. Unfortunately, it’s capable of
producing entirely opposite results. It can become a catalyst for both good and
evil. In fact, the tree in the Garden of Eden that Adam and Eve were expressly
forbidden to partake of, had the unique quality of being able to provide
knowledge of both, in one bite. That
would be a good thing…wouldn't it? Eve certainly thought so. As a woman, I find
it very probing that the devil chose to dangle the temptation of all-knowledge
before Eve instead of Adam. And it was she who was deceived, not he (1Tim.
2:14). She loved knowledge and he loved her, it could be argued.
Whatever their individual motivations, it turned out
that the new revelation that came to them after the first bite of the forbidden
tree of knowledge was the fact that they were naked. Surely way down on the list of things I’d like to find out
about myself. Have you ever had one of
those crazy dreams where you're in a large group of people, and you suddenly
realize you don't have any clothes on? Who knows; this may be déjà vu from
Mother Eve!
Of all
the aspects of our lives that require discrimination, one of the most important
is in the matter of acquiring knowledge. We only need to know as much as God
wishes for us to know—of
both good and evil. To dash from this
"tree" to that in search of ever more knowledge and experience, is to
court disaster. In Eve’s case, it cost her something she would never again
regain: innocence. And, oh, the ruined lives knowledge has often left in its
quest! I want to know everything God wants me to know—nothing less...but
nothing more.
“Adam and Eve
didn’t need to know good and evil; they only needed to know God.”
R.D. Sandlin
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