Eve’s Temptation: How Focus Influences Our Choices

Genesis 3: 1-6 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.“

The enemy never whispers, “Listen to me, I will lead you into sin”. If that was his approach, we would not fall prey to his schemes. Instead, he lies, deceives and misleads.

Genesis 3 details the fall of man. This section of scripture has many lessons one can take, in this post I focus mainly on one.

Eve is tempted to eat from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, promised by the serpent that she will not die but instead will be like God. Satan makes Eve question God’s word – Did God really say (verse 1)? Further, he directly contradicts God’s warning that if they eat of that particular tree they will surely die (Gen 2:17). The enemy then appeals to her pride, with a false promise that if she eats it, she will become like God.

When Satan feeds Eve these lies, notice that what the serpent says was not primarily focused on the reality of the fact that Eve would be disobeying God’s direct command. The serpent quickly shifted emphasis to what Eve would be missing out on (your eyes would be opened to knowing good and evil) while painting a false picture of what she could be (like God).

Metaphorically, Satan dangled the fruit before her, and it was upto Eve to either turn away or take it. What she decided to do next is crucial in understanding how to handle temptation. Rather than keeping her mind on what God had said, she fueled the temptation by closely inspecting the fruit on the forbidden tree. By fixing her attention on the wrong thing, Eve ultimately gave in to the temptation and disobeyed God.

When Eve looked at the fruit, God was not the center of her focus, because if He was, when she looked at the fruit, it would have invoked a reminder of what God said about it. Once her gaze was on the fruit, she allows her focus to rest there, with her own desires at the center of it all. She then feeds her desire by allowing herself to focus on how good the fruit looked, it was appealing to the eye (the lust of the eyes), it was appealing to consume (the lust of the flesh) and she repeated and rationalised what the serpent said to her that it was good for gaining wisdom (the lust of pride).

Gaining wisdom is a good thing but may the means of it never be outside of the will of God. 1 John 2:16 says, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world.””

How does our focus affect our awareness of whether we yield to temptation or not? For each of us, it is a reminder that where our focus rests, it feeds and strengthens that particular thought. Focusing on God and His word, helps us keep God at the center of all we think and do. It acts as a guard for a person’s ways and protects us from straying into sin. In a world full of misinformation and temptation, the Word of God acts as a compass. A God focused mindset is better equipped to recognize and resist temptation.

God Bless.