One of the things I find very fascinating about Genesis 3, is that we are never told why the man ate the forbidden fruit... We are told that Eve was deceived by the serpent, but all we are told for the man is that his wife gave him the fruit.

In fact, Genesis 3 doesn't even tell us if the man questioned his wife, or if he was the least bit resistant. It doesn't tell us whether his wife coaxed him into taking the fruit, or if he eagerly grabbed it out of her hands... Genesis 3 seemingly forgets to explain how Adam, the first man, was led to sin.

One of my father's favorite sayings is, "Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades." And perhaps that is one of the reasons Adam's sin isn't explained in depth. As Christians we find ourselves being tempted by different things, and we try to rationalize our actions. Even when we sin, we reward ourselves for "resisting temporarily." I remember watching an old tv show, where the woman goes on a diet, determined to make it. 5 minutes later she grabs a cupcake and scarfs it down. What is her reaction to this clear diet failure? She looks up at the camera, smiles and says, "Well at least I made it for 5 minutes."

Let's just say for a second, that Adam resisted taking the fruit from Eve (of course this is merely a speculation). Let's say that Adam even tried to talk Eve out of eating the fruit for several minutes, before he finally gave in and took it. Just like the woman with the cupcake, Adam failed.

Today we try to rationalize our actions, to make them feel acceptable. When we fail, we reward ourselves for 'trying' to obey God. We try to talk ourselves out of doing something, then we do it, and then we tell ourselves, "It's ok... I tried." James tells us that we cannot deceive ourselves this way. He warns us that we cannot just read the Word of God, but we must also do what it says. We must put off our sins, our filth, and follow God (James 1:21-22).

We need to take responsibility for our sins, and for our failures. We need to take an honest look at ourselves, and admit that we did sin, and that "resisting" a little bit doesn't count if we end up giving in to our temptations.

Just like Adam, when we sin we should be ashamed of ourselves; instead of rewarding ourselves. We should ask ourselves why we sinned, instead of saying "I tried not to." But unlike Adam, we need to realize that the only person to blame for our actions, our sins... is ourselves.

Today, what sins are still in your life? What things are you "close" to stopping or getting away from? Are you going to be like Adam; like the woman who was successful with her diet - for 5 minutes... or are you going to be like Paul who turned from his old ways and dedicated his life to serving the Lord?