God gave the command in Genesis 2: “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Adam and Eve lived happily and freely, avoiding the one tree God commanded them to avoid. They didn’t see the command as burdensome because they were satisfied with all the other fruit God had provided them. Their focus wasn’t on what they weren’t allowed to do.

Until the serpent drew Eve’s attention to the forbidden tree. He questioned God’s command and tempted Eve to do the same. Once her focus shifted to the tree, she saw it differently. It became attractive. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate”.

Sin became attractive.

Things haven’t changed much, have they? We do what we know is wrong because we look at sin and allow ourselves to be lured by its apparent beauty. But behind the veil of beauty is utter darkness and death. It’s all a lie. There is no freedom, no joy. God knows this and wants to protect us from it.

That’s why in Hebrews, it says, “let us lay aside the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”