God Told Me to Notice...

One of my absolute favourite books in the Bible is Genesis. I can read it over and over again and never get tired of it. In fact, the more I read it, the more I realise how much I missed the previous time. It amazes me how God can use the same passage to reveal different truths in different seasons of my life.

One year during Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)—which I absolutely love—we were studying Genesis. I remember quietly thinking to myself,

"Genesis? What exactly are we going to learn that we don't already know?"

There it was again.

Spiritual arrogance. 😄

We hadn't gone very far before God humbled me.

Most of us know the story.

God created Adam, placed him in the Garden of Eden, and gave him one clear instruction:

"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil..." (Genesis 2:16–17)

Later, God created Eve, and then came the moment that changed human history—the encounter between Eve and the serpent.

Before I get to what completely changed my understanding of this passage, let me quickly share three lessons that stood out to me.

Lesson One: Know God's Word Beyond the Words

The serpent didn't begin with a lie.

He began with a question.

"Did God really say...?"

That is still one of his greatest strategies today.

We must know God's Word—not just memorize verses, but understand them.

Think about mathematics.

You may know that 6 × 8 equals 48, but if someone gives you a word problem and you don't understand how multiplication works, you'll struggle.

The same is true spiritually.

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he quoted Scripture. Jesus wasn't fooled because He understood not only what God's Word said but how it should be rightly applied.

The devil knows Scripture.

The question is...

Do we?

Lesson Two: Don't Entertain Conversations God Has Already Settled

The serpent asked,

"Did God really say?"

The answer was simple.

Yes.

That should have been the end of the conversation.

Not every question deserves a debate.

Sometimes wisdom simply says,

"God has spoken."

Lesson Three: Be Careful What You Keep Looking At

Genesis tells us that Eve looked at the fruit.

She kept looking.

Until it became desirable.

Appealing.

Pleasing.

Temptation often grows because we spend too much time looking at what we should have walked away from.

Now...

Here is the part I've been dying to get to.

For years, if anyone had asked me where Adam was while the serpent was speaking to Eve, I would probably have said somewhere else in the garden.

Maybe under a tree.

Maybe tending the garden.

Maybe nowhere near the conversation.

If you grew up with My Book of Bible Stories like I did, that's probably the picture in your mind too.

Well...

We were wrong.

Then God told me to notice something I had somehow read over for years.

Genesis 3:6 says,

"She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate."

Gbam!

Adam wasn't somewhere else.

He wasn't far away.

He was right there.

Standing beside his wife.

Listening to the conversation.

Watching the deception unfold.

And saying...

Nothing.

I must have read that verse dozens of times before it finally hit me.

So the question was no longer,

"Where was Adam?"

The real question became,

"Why didn't Adam do anything?"

That one observation completely changed how I read Genesis 3.

In many premarital counselling classes, men are taught that they are to be the Spiritual Leaders (Priests), Protectors, and Providers of their homes.

Looking at Genesis 3, Adam appears to have failed in that responsibility.

He had received God's instruction directly.

He knew exactly what God had said.

Yet while the serpent questioned God's Word and deceived his wife, Adam remained silent.

But then God told me to notice something else.

When God came into the garden after they had sinned, whom did He call first?

Adam.

Not because Eve hadn't sinned.

She had.

But because the original instruction had been entrusted to Adam.

Leadership carries responsibility.

Then God asked Adam,

"Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

Adam answered,

"The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate."

I paused again.

Adam didn't simply blame Eve.

He indirectly blamed God.

"The woman You gave me..."

Then God turned to Eve.

Her response?

"The serpent deceived me."

She blamed someone else too.

Interestingly, God never questioned the serpent.

He simply pronounced judgment.

Earlier this year, while reading Genesis with my children, I asked my husband,

"What do you think would have happened if Adam had simply said, 'Lord, I sinned. I disobeyed You. I'm sorry'?"

Of course, Scripture doesn't tell us.

But I couldn't help wondering.

I also couldn't help wondering whether Adam's response became the very first example of blame-shifting within a family.

Leaders set the tone.

If a father constantly shouts when he's angry, his children often learn that shouting is how problems are solved.

If he owns his mistakes, apologizes sincerely, and responds with humility, those around him learn that too.

Leadership teaches far more by example than by instruction.

That lesson has stayed with me.

Today, whenever my five-year-old son does something wrong and immediately points at someone else, I gently stop him.

I tell him,

"Baba, be accountable."

"If you did it, simply say, 'I did it. I am sorry.'"

Because accountability is not merely admitting mistakes.

It is choosing truth over excuses.

One final observation.

Adam was not the first person to eat the fruit.

But he was the first person God called.

That has never left me.

Leadership is not simply about authority.

It is about responsibility.

Whether we are husbands, wives, parents, pastors, employers, employees, or leaders in any capacity, God has entrusted people, opportunities, and responsibilities into our hands.

One day, like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, each of us will give an account for what we did with what He entrusted to us.

My prayer is that when God weighs our stewardship, we will not be found wanting.

And if you're still on my husband's team and insist Adam wasn't standing there...

Please go back and read Genesis 3:6 one more time. 😄 And pick your team mate