"But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die" (Gen. 3:3).

Adam must have expounded a little on God's words for added effect: "Eve, don't you even look at that tree. Don't take any fruit from that tree—in fact, God says don't even touch it!"

I'm taking a few liberties with this passage, but I want to make two points here concerning the first man and first woman.

First, Eve fell right into the trap of thinking, "I can handle this. I don't need a man." (Men do the same thing, only they think, "I can handle this. I don't need a woman's help.")

Adam and Eve were placed together for a divine reason. It should be obvious that Adam needed Eve and Eve needed Adam. The same is true for us today. None of us can function perfectly alone.

Of course, single people can maintain a home, pursue careers and go through the basic functions of life without the assistance of a mate, but that doesn't mean they were created to live that way forever.

The fact is that the true name of this pitfall is pride. Satan started dealing with Eve's pride immediately when he whispered, "You can be like God. You can make your own decisions. You can have your own way You can do what you want. You can be as God, knowing good and evil."

She began to think, Yeah! I can do it my way! I know what my husband said that God said. But I can do it my own way.

The problem is that once you begin to think you can do things your way, you begin to pay special attention to the forbidden.

Eve looked even closer at the tree and saw that it was pretty and pleasant to the eyes, that it was "a tree to be desired to make one wise."

If you pay attention to the forbidden, it will attract you and cause you to do the next thing that Eve did. She touched it. Then she partook of it. Then, as so often happens with sin, she passed it on to somebody else.

Adam Failed To Stand
The second pitfall involves Adam. He passively listened and watched while that cunning serpent essentially called him a liar, set aside the Word of God and questioned the motives of the Almighty! Adam failed to stand for the truth and protect his wife.

Every man must protect his wife and family, and anyone else who is under his authority. It is his responsibility under God to protect them at all cost. That is part of what makes a man a man.

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