Was Adam’s first sin when he ate the fruit? Eve was deceived, I think we all remember the story from Sunday school right? If not, let me give a short version (full text in Genesis Chapter 3):
Adam and Eve are created as the first humans on earth. God gives them one rule, don’t eat of this particular tree. Satan, a fallen angel, appears in the garden as a serpent and deceives Eve, convinces her to eat of the tree because it’s delicious and mind blowing.
But where was Adam? Was he out foraging some berries from the thicket near the brook? Was he on one of those long walks with God?
No, he was standing right there with Eve! His first sin wasn’t when he ate the fruit, it was when he allowed Eve to be deceived and stood by and did nothing to protect her or himself from Satan’s evil schemes. His passiveness was his first failure.
A specific call to men but I feel can also be applied to all who walk in The Way, “stand up and fight!” Just as Joshua struggled with the urge to follow Moses’ footsteps, to be passive, dismissive of God’s command to rise and fight. We too struggle with our spiritual fitness and spiritual warfare.
In the very beginning of Joshua’s tenure as leader of the Isrealites following Moses’ passing, God commands him to be strong and courageous, to rise and fight, multiple times. (Joshua 1). He even describes what training for spiritual warfare looks like. Prayer, fasting and meditation on God’s Word. Feeding one’s spirit, ‘soul food’.
Don’t neglect your spiritual fitness, it starts with just a little, ‘nah, I can skip Bible reading this morning.” or, ‘missing prayer today is OK, one day won’t hurt.’ Small things, when repeated, become habits that hurt our relationship with God, and therefore reduce our ability to resist and repell the schemes, arrows, attacks of the devil.
Instead, build those small habits. Those moments and minutes with God change our entire lives, every day. Carve in your heart the habit of telling God, “Yes!” when He commands us to be strong, and rise up, and deeply ingrain the habit of forcefully and audibly resisting the plea for passiveness from Satan.
