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TEXT: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-19
Mrs. Jones put the finishing touches on the cake as she planned the surprise.
Mrs. Jones hurriedly put the finishing touches on a big chocolate cake. Kenny and Brenda were due to arrive at any time for the surprise birthday dinner for her son, Mason. They would only be able to stay for an hour, so dinner would have to be ready to serve the minute they arrived. The ringing of the phone interrupted her thoughts. After quickly wiping her hands she answered it.
Her son’s breathless voice tumbled into her ear, “Mom, may I go over to Beckett’s house on the way home from school? He has a new basketball hoop and we want to try it out. I don’t have any homework and, after all, it is my birthday!”
Mrs. Jones glanced at the clock. “Mason, not tonight. You had band practice after school and I’m afraid there just isn’t time before dinner. You’d better come right on home.”
Mason hung up the phone and shook his head disappointedly at his friend. “Sorry, Beckett, but Mom says to come right home.”
“Oh, c’mon Mason,” Beckett urged him, “just for a few minutes! Your mom won’t really care if you’re a little late. Let’s get a couple of other guys to join us.”
An hour and a half later, Mason opened the front door of his house and slipped quietly inside, only to be greeted by the troubled eyes of his mother.
Mason looked at his feet, scuffing one sneaker over the other. “Uh . . . hi, Mom . . . um . . . wasn’t that Uncle Kenny’s car I saw pulling out of the driveway? . . . uh . . .”
“Yes, that was Uncle Kenny and Aunt Brenda, Mason,” his mother replied sadly. “They couldn’t stay any longer at a birthday party where the most important guest never arrived!”
Mason’s eyes widened. “You mean . . . ?”
“Yes, Mason. Because we were planning a surprise party for you tonight, I told you to come straight home. But you didn’t come. We waited as long as we could, but finally Uncle Kenny and Aunt Brenda had to go. You chose to do what you wanted instead of obeying me. How does your thoughtlessness make you feel?” Mason hung his head. He could not reply.
Sometimes we may face situations like the one that confronted Mason. He was tempted to disobey—and he did.
How will we react? Will we resist the temptation, or will we give in and do what we know we shouldn’t do?
Our Bible text for this lesson tells of two other people who faced temptation. Adam and Eve, the first people on earth, had been given a wonderful Garden in which to live. God gave them permission to eat the fruit of every tree there except one.
We might sometimes question the rules set down for us, but remember what happened to Adam and Eve. Satan tempted Eve to ignore God’s order by questioning God’s command and causing a doubt as to what would happen if she disobeyed. His words persuaded Eve. She took the first bite of the forbidden fruit, and then gave some to Adam, and he followed her example.
The first sin had been committed.
That sin did not happen when Satan tempted Eve to take the forbidden fruit. It happened when Eve yielded to the temptation and did what she knew was wrong.
Satan is still busy trying to trip up those who are walking with God. He wants to destroy the fellowship between God and man. He sends temptations our way hoping that we will do what he says.
But we don’t have to give in! Our key verse tells us that God can deliver us from temptation. When the devil tries to get us to do something we know is wrong, we can turn to the Lord. He will give us strength to tell the devil to leave, that we won’t follow him.
Mason yielded to temptation and disobeyed his mother. Will you resist the devil when he comes to you with a temptation? The choice is yours.
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