Knowing Evil

Reading the chapters for the One-Year Challenge, I got to thinking about the dilemma that faced the real first family with that fruit.  What is it that really caused them to give in?  Why couldn’t they simply resist and realize that taking that first bite would be absolutely devastating?  I think it’s because they weren’t equipped to resist based on discernment.

Think about it this way: Because Adam and Eve had not yet eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, they had no discernment or basis for knowing that the serpent was lying (i.e. was being evil). They were, in the best sense of the word, naive; they were pure. They didn’t really need discernment.  So, how could they possibly have known that they were being deceived? They should have been given a pass, right? Wrong. They didn’t HAVE to know the difference between good and evil; they didn’t need to be able to have that kind of discernment IF THEY HAD SIMPLY BEEN OBEDIENT.

There are many times that I am deceived into evil. There are times when I cannot tell the difference in the subtleties between good and bad. Does that give me a pass? No. In the same way Adam and Eve should have simply been obedient, if I am in tune with what God says and am obedient to it, I don’t have to rely on my own, flawed ability to discern.

Obedience protects me from myself as well as the evil that lurks in the shadows that tries to get me to fall. I think that’s why in the Great Commission, Jesus tells His disciples to “teach them to observe all that I have commanded.” It is a command of protection as well as faithfulness. In an already fallen world, godly discernment is imperative, but above all else, I must simply learn to obey.