I Guess We All Have A Little Bit of Eve In Us

I've been tied up with different things over the weekend, but at the same time I was trying to think about where I wanted to go with my devotional studies, and I decided that I really wanted to focus on learning what I could about the different women of the Bible. As I looked through the Table of Contents in the Bible I realized that only two books of the Bible are dedicated to the lives of women ... Ruth and Esther. I really enjoy both books (and I plan to revisit them soon), but I decided to go back and look at the life of the very first woman in the world, Eve. When you get right down to it, Eve suffered from many of the same struggles that we deal with today.

• Eve had the "I've got to have it feeling." You know, she was perfectly content in the Garden of Eden until she was approached by Satan and deceived. Our desires, like hers, though can be so easily manipulated. It is easy to forget about all that we've been blessed with and to focus our thoughts on what we don't have. That's exactly what happened to Eve!
  

• Eve also stepped out on a limb and obliged Satan by leaving God out of her plans. She rocked right along without ever asking God for his guidance. Have you ever just stepped out on your own and left God totally out of your plans and fell flat on your face? That's exactly what Satan's goal is for us, and he gets me with this one all the time. I think that "I" can do a lot! (Wrong)

• This is really hilarious to me, but as I was rereading this story that I've read numerous times before I realized that "The Blame Game" started in the Garden of Eden. When the Lord questioned Adam about eating from the tree of the forbidden fruit, he blamed Eve. When the Lord questioned Eve, she blamed the serpent. So, this is where "The Blame Game" got started! I never realized that before. We have to remember that God always knows the truth ,and that He expects us as Christians to accept responsibility for our actions. "The Blame Game" isn't acceptable to Him, and He proves that with the punishment that He gives for their wrong actions in the Garden of Eden.

• One of the saddest things that I realized as I reread this familiar story is the pain that Eve must have felt as her children battled through extreme sibling rivalry. That jealousy eventually led to the death of her son Abel. I can't even fathom dealing with the loss of a child, but can you imagine if it was by the hand of your other child? What a load to carry. You know, it easy to think back to the Garden and just remember that Eve is to blame for those awful pains that we experience during childbirth, but she definitely had her own burdens to bear.

• Although it seems like Eve's story is filled with gloom and doom, there is grace and mercy through the judgment. Even as God was pouring out His judgment for Eve's sin, He promised her and generations to come that we would bear children. Genesis 3:16 says, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and you will give birth." Even during His judgment he was promising restoration. :)
  

I'm sure that I haven't gleaned all that there is to glean from Eve's life. Have I missed anything exciting that you would like to share?