Temptation

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:2-5)

God knew. God knew the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be too appealing to be resisted. God knew, before the serpent ever spoke, the distrust and doubt that lived in the heart and mind of God's most precious creation. God knew the treasured closeness between God's self and God's beloved would never be the same. God knew, and God still created. God still loved.

We continue to be enamored with what we don't have, and that fixation plants doubt and distrust where joy and peace would grow. We think God is either holding out or punishing us by not giving us our every desire. We work, or scheme, in pursuit of the gift rather than the Giver. God does not curse our distrust, but allows us to experience the consequences of our short-sightedness.

Both as evidence of God's understanding and as an example of how we can live differently, Jesus offered himself - weakened from fasting - to be tempted. Tempted by power, ambition, and a desire to trust the known over the unknown, Jesus resisted - choosing to stand firm in the goodness of God. The Goodness that kept Jesus also sustains us. God was neither mistaken nor deceived when declaring us "good". God simply saw God's self covering us more completely than the fig leaves of doubt and distrust ever could.

Our Creator knows, and has always known, us fully and loves us thoroughly.

10 Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:10-11)