Genesis 3:8-15 (NRSV)
Read Genesis 3:8-15 on biblegateway.com
Verse 8They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Verse 9But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" Verse 10He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
Verse 11He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" Verse 12The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." Verse 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."
Verse 14The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. Verse 15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."
Devotion
We could have been taunted by so many things at the beginning—our nakedness, our dependence on the tree of life, our naļveté—but that crafty serpent chose the most alluring, telling us we could be like God. We believed that taunt and discovered how that original, corrupting sin leads to fear and judgment. Our fear of being in God's presence drives us to taunt others as we try to escape blame. Yet in God's judgment against the serpent, we hear the foreshadowing of God's intention to defeat the taunting devil.
Prayer
Creator God, you know us, yet you love us still. Free us from the devil's taunts that would separate us from the love and care you want to provide for us. Amen.