By Olubunmi Adebayo
*He who will not eat the forbidden fruit, must not smell it. As a matter of necessity, one should stay away from the tree yielding the forbidden fruit.*
*The above should be food for thought for everyone us.*
*God meant business when He instructed Adam thus :*
*Genesis 2: [15] And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.*
*[16]And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:*
*[17 _But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die_.*
*But alas, what was man’s response to God’s directive?*
*Genesis 3: [12] And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.*
*Man came up with a ready made excuse as his reason for eating the forbidden fruit – he blamed the wife, while the wife blamed the serpent.*
*Excuses were all that Adam and Eve gave to God for eating the forbidden fruit.*
*Whereas the simple truth was that man disobeyed God, and the consequences followed.*
*Taking a cue from the above, all of us must know and realize that there are always forbidden fruits around us that we must not eat.*
*The challenge before most men today is wrong attitude towards the forbidden fruit before them.*
*Permit me to ask : what is your attitude towards the forbidden fruits you have been directed not to eat?*
*To some people, the forbidden fruit before them is that woman who is not their wife who is available at the proximity of their hand, or the one who is always making face towards them.*
*To some, it is that money they are forbidden from touching. While to others, it is that overwhelming pressure to lure them into joining the occult group. To others, it is that compelling desire to do drugs or play harlotry or engage in one illicit or sinful activity or the other.*
*Whatever your own situation is called, determine in your heart not to go against the directive of God in not “eating the forbidden fruit”.*
*Each time you come under the compulsion to do otherwise about the forbidden fruit, always remember Joseph. There was nobody else in the house with him and Madam Portiphar that day :*
*Genesis 39:[11]And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; _and there was none of the men of the house there within_.*
*Know that there will always be things around you encouraging you to compromise and eat the forbidden fruit : serpent, your wife,etc, it is you that will make up your mind not to go in that direction.*
*Always know that where there are things encouraging you to eat the forbidden fruit, there are several things that should discourage you from doing it.*
*Listen to Joseph :*
*Gen 39:9….. _how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?_*
*Ultimately, know that nothing ties you down to the forbidden fruit, you can always run from it :*
*Genesis 39: [12]….and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.*
*Learning from above, know that he who dances at the cliff of the mountain, is only dancing to fall, and may not live to tell the story.*
*If you therefore need to run, please run.*
Top of the day to you.
©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo.
