Read
Good for Food and a Delight to the Eyes
“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 desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Genesis 3:6
Most of the time we think about the temptation of Eve, we think of three mini-temptations: physical appetite (good for food), emotional appetite (delight to the eyes), and ego (make one wise). While the Holy Spirit tells us these three things were on her mind, there’s something else He’s already revealed to us about the other trees in the garden.
“Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Genesis 2:9
You see that every tree pleasing to the sight and good for food was available to her apart from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Often what we think we’re looking for in our rebellion against God is something He’s already provided. In fact, we’re likely using that as an excuse to seize upon something He hasn’t permitted.
Two of the three things that appealed to Eve about the forbidden tree had already been freely provided to her, but she saw those things in the forbidden tree as an excuse to go after knowledge that God had forbidden.
What do we do with this?
First, there is no appetite given to you by God that must be fulfilled in rebellion against Him. To think so is to deceive yourself. In fact, the idea that humans possess appetites that can only be fulfilled in rebellion against God springs from the twisting and warping of God-given appetites.
Second, the desire to have more or be more that manifests itself as ego results from our being made in God’s image. Go back and look at the real temptation by the serpent. He tells Eve she will be like God in her knowledge of good and evil. That’s appealing because we’re made with the desire for God and His nature. The fulfillment of that desire, however, comes on His terms and in His time. Any attempt to seize that fulfillment on our own can only result in alienation from Him.
Jesus gave the solution to this problem in the sermon on the mount when He said "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Stop pursuing dead-end fulfillment of your appetites. Search out God’s design for your fulfillment and His plan to perfect you. No human being can or will be fulfilled any other way.
