Genesis 3:6 [show] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (ESV)
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ”

Many times we find our self in situations as Eve did in this Scripture – in a position where we are faced with rationalization of our sin. We know its wrong but we seem to wrestle with our flesh and find good out of it. Some times we follow through and commit the sin because we did not put God first. We have to rationalize or think twice about whether or not we should do something and if there is a question or doubt, the best way to be sure that we do the right thing is to simply avoid the action all together. We should stop and think, “Is this of God? … What would God think or do?” We should also stop and pray.

Eve was provoked and came up with three reasons why she should have ate the fruit that was offered to her after God had warned her not to. She was deceived by the devil and rationalized with her flesh and thought well it looks good, desirable, and pleasant. She thought that she misunderstood and God and decided to fulfill her wants and needs on her own. Then she shared it with Adam and they both had to pay the price for rebelling against God’s word.

Yes, even though Eve was deceived and provoked, what she did not remember was that God had already told her what not to do and she did not follow His commands. This is a struggle many deal with daily. If we just seek the Lord first daily in prayer and meditation (to hear from Him), we can eliminate a lot of the experiences that come from rationalization and second thoughts. ” Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33 [show] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)
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Some may wonder where would we be today if Adam and Eve had followed God’s commands and did not rationalize with their flesh. The reality is we can not live in a ‘what if’ world, but we can do everything in our daily walk to seek God. When we learn to live that way, we have a stronger ability to avoid rationalizing our sin and justifying the reasons we fall into deceptive traps.

* Written by Keeya McAlister May 3, 2007