Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?”

And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”  Genesis 3:11-13 HCSB

It’s always somebody else’s fault, right? No one likes to be wrong and when we are wrong, it’s much easier to blame it on someone else. We see in Genesis chapter 3 that this has been going on since the first people were put on the planet. Either we lie to ourselves and others and say we didn’t do it or we blame someone else for our shortcomings.

We spoke yesterday about the first sin ever committed way back there with Adam and Eve. God had specifically told them that they could eat from any tree in the garden, but they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now back in Genesis 2:17 God commanded Adam to not eat from this tree just before Eve was formed. In Genesis 3:3 Eve told the serpent that they could eat from any tree but that tree, so we know that she understood this commandment as well. But she went near the serpent, she engaged in conversation with the serpent, and entertained him just long enough for him to deceive her and convince her that no harm would come from her eating from that tree.

I have been talking a lot in the last couple weeks about the evil that is going on around us in these end times. I wish I was oblivious to all this evil, but since my ancestors ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I am well aware of the evil that is all around me. The serpent told Eve that if they ate of that tree they would be like God. He lied. They were made aware of good and evil, but they were not given God’s power to control it. So, as human beings we suffer. Now that was all just a little side note, no extra charge. I digress.

Getting back to our topic, the problem is when we are caught in our sin, we like to blame someone else. I’ll give you a prime example. The other day, one of my mom’s sitters and I were talking about the fact that I have gained about 20 pounds in the two years since my mom and her live-in (nighttime) sitter moved in. I blamed that on my mom’s sitter because she is a fabulous cook and likes to cook. That combined with the fact that I like to eat is a dangerous combination. Now my mom likes her sitter’s cooking so I am grateful that she cooks such wonderful food that my mom loves to eat. My other sitter suggested that I simply not eat it. I told her that wouldn’t work, because I too love her cooking. I can blame her for my weight gain, but the fault lies with me, right? I make the choice to eat, or I should say overeat, her cooking.

In our scripture passage today, Eve made the choice to eat the fruit of this tree. Adam made the choice to also eat of this tree, no he is not blameless here. They both allowed the serpent the opportunity to dispute what God had said. But, when they got caught, it was someone else’s fault. Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve. Now did God say, “Poor Eve, that mean old serpent tricked you”? No, he did not. Did God say to Adam, “That mean woman led you astray, your poor innocent little angel”? No, he did not. He’s not going to do that with us either.

God’s word is very specific. The Ten Commandments are not the ten suggestions. God gives us commandments that he expects us to live by. When we fail to do so, we can blame someone else, but it will not help us to escape God’s judgement. In Genesis three, the verses that follow our scripture passage list the punishment doled out to the serpent, Eve, and Adam. None of us will escape God’s judgment for the mistakes that we make.

One of my favorite parts of this story is where God calls out to Adam and Adam tells God that they hid from Him because they were afraid because they were naked. The irony of this is that we cannot hide from God, right? But how many times have you tried to hide your sin? We try to hide our sin from those that would not approve, but my friend, nothing is hidden from God. Luke 12:3 tells us that what we have said in the darkness will be heard in the light and what we have whispered within closed doors will be shouted from the roof tops.

We are accountable to God for each and every word that comes out of our mouths (Matthew 12:36). We are told in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we are to take even our thoughts captive so that they obey Christ. The Bible gives very clear instructions on how we are to behave and how we are to treat others. It is also very clear on the fact that the day will come when we will face God’s judgment.

When we face the Great White Throne of Judgment, God is not going to be listening to some half baked excuse about how someone else is responsible for our sins. That’s all on each of us individually. Turn to Him today, ask Him to remove your sin from you. Ask Him to cleanse you with His blood and fill you with His Holy Spirit. You never know when you will have to answer for what you have done. And just as a heads up, “It wasn’t my fault”, just isn’t going to cut it.

Have a great day!