Day 743: Little sins - Genesis 3 vs 16 – 19

16 To the woman God said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for (or possibly 'against') your husband, and he shall rule over you.” 17-19 And to Adam he said,“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,‘You shall not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:16-19 English Standard Version

The New Testament letter of James mentions the great damage our words can do. It says: “A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire! And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire, a whole world of wickedness corrupting your entire body.” (James 3:5-6) But it's not just words, it’s also true of what the seemingly small act of disobedience by Adam and his wife led to. Eating some fruit God told them not to eat may seem like nothing in our eyes. But it was an act of disobedience that opened the door for sin to enter the world, and today's verses show the consequences it led to. How would it affect Adam's wife, and all women thereafter? (vs 16)

When He created the man and woman we read: “God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'” (Genesis 1:28) What should've been a great blessing now had a great burden. Child birth would not be easy, but would be accompanied with great pain. Instead of shared dominion, she would be subject to her husband. There's a hint in that verse of the tension and conflict that would follow between men and women. Sadly, sometimes even in the homes of Christians.

What about the consequences of Adam's disobedience? (vs 17-19)

Because God's command was first given to Adam, he bore the greater responsibility. So when he listened to his wife instead of listening to God he brought judgment upon the very world he was meant to look after. The garden of Eden was, no doubt, a lovely setting. The Lord put Adam there to work it and keep it. Had he not disobeyed I'm sure the earth would've yielded it's harvest easily and in abundance. But now that work would be a struggle. Thorns and thistles would be one of many hardships to overcome. And all the sweat (and blood and tears) would only be leading to a grave.

It's not the SIZE of a sin that makes it bad – it's the act of defiance and disobedience itself! Any sin makes us unfit to be with God. The apostle Paul linked God's judgment on the woman, the man, and the ground, when he wrote: “Creation was subjected to futility. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:20 & 22)

In that same letter Paul also said: “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. People sinned even before the law (through Moses) was given - but it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died - from the time of Adam to the time of Moses - even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did.” (Romans 5:12-14)

ALL sin has consequences. The greatest is that of death, and the coming day of judgment. But sin also affects the years before we reach the grave. It causes hurts, quarrels, break ups, and more. May we never treat sin lightly. May we never think of some sins as 'small' and therefore not to be resisted. Remember James' words - 'a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire' – and that was just about wrong words we speak. We've probably all done more than just say a wrong word now and then. May it be our goal to be holy each day in all we say or do.