Eve is the women of many firsts! She was the first to have a man fall madly in love with her, the first wife ever, the first mother ever, and the first to design "green" eco-friendly clothing. She won Season 1 of the first Project Runway ever.
Eve also was never a child! She just came to be one day! She had a clean slate. No emotional baggage! NONE! No PMS! No original sin! NONE! Eve had the most beautiful landscaping a person could want. Eve had the only eligible man. Eve even liked her body and had no issue with being naked! Imagine that! Eve had access to anything she wanted, needed, or desired (with the exception of that one tree). She only had one restriction in her PERFECT world.
In that one restriction, she fell prey to a crafty Snake who was out to destroy her perfect world. He was out to get his enemy God and the best way to do it, would be to bring destruction to God's perfect world He had just created. So the Snake, with all his Wolfy charm, beguiled Eve! He deceived her! He twisted God's words! He painted a picture of God as one who withholds! He told her she was missing out on something amazing!
Have you ever had someone paint a picture for you that leaves you feeling like you are missing out on something? We all have. Keeping up with the Jones is a modern day way of American life. Anyone reading this was convinced that they need a computer to live in the modern world. Something deep inside of us longs for fulfillment, and if we are listening to the wrong voices we can easily fall prey to someone who doesn't have our best interest at heart. Ironically, when wolves are hunting, they look for animals that are smaller than them or ill in some way, as the are easier to catch. Even in Little Red Ridinghood, the Wolf preyed on a little girl and an elderly, sickly grandmother; not the woodsman.
What is it that made Eve vulnerable? Where was Adam? Why didn't the snake approach Adam? How is it that in a perfect world there was room for a fatal fall? God wanted a relationship with us! In order to have a two-way relationship each person has to have a sense of self! You have to have the ability to choose! So, Eve was given the ability to choose. And, in that freedom, she was also vulnerable! God had made it really simple! One rule! Don't eat the fruit from that one tree.
There are some key lessons from Eve that we need to pay attention too. First, choice is a gift! It is a gift we can use for harm or for good! It is a gift we can use for selfish gain or for generosity! When Eve choose to eat of the fruit, she was doing something for herself! She wasn't thinking about others.
Second, who we decide to trust can have a major impact for good or for bad in our life. Eve chose to trust a new acquaintance and believe his version, rather then the version Adam and God had given her. Eve didn't even consider the relationship she had with God or look at all that He had provided. When something that seemed better came along, she jumped at it. Wisdom is cautious. Wisdom looks at the bigger picture. Wisdom considers relationship and intention.
Third, Eve decided to bust through some one's boundary and do what she wanted to do Boundaries are essential for healthy relationships. It helps to define who we are! Eve knew God had created her and the world, yet she decided His boundary was restricting her life. Boundaries are their to protect us not to harm us or control us.
Eve, was the first real housewife and her one bite opened the door for a reality series of selfishness that is ongoing! It is only by choose to turn back to God and trust Him and His boundaries that we can move toward His intentions for us!
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