Staying Pure...For Her
Watch Out for the World
By Travis K. McSherley

She had been warned.  They both had been warned.  But oh how luscious it was.  Just one taste, that's all she wanted.  She looked closer.  She knew of the consequences, but it was so beautiful she could hardly take her eyes off of it.  She heard a voice calling her.  "Go on," it said, "you won't be sorry.  After all, how could such a desirable thing be bad?"

Then Eve slowly and carefully took the smallest fruit she could find off of the glowing tree.  She studied it for a minute, squeezing softly on the smooth peel.  Then she took a bite, just a nibble really, and smiled as the juice flowed through her throat.  But then the smile stopped.  What had she done?  She probably realized immediately that death was imminent; God wasn't kidding around.  Adam, what would he think?  She looked over at her husband resting against another tree.  She sat down next to him.  "Adam, dear, have a bite of fruit."

"Hey, wait a second, we aren't supposed to be eating that fruit!"

"Yes, but it tastes so wonderful, and it makes you wise like God Himself."

He looked the fruit for a moment as well.  She was right, it did look delicious.  But as he sunk his teeth into the fruit, the guilt and remorse of sin flooded over him for the first time.  They had blown it.  Their perfect gift was tarnished.

The story of Adam and Eve can be a difficult one to think about.  They had a perfect situation, and blew it in one moment of lust and desire.  We must be careful not to judge them too harshly, though, because the same logic the serpent used to tempt Eve is used to try to damage God's gifts today.  And all it takes is one moment of selfishness to tarnish those gifts for us forever.  Was Eve thinking about Adam when she took that fateful bite?  I doubt it.  She certainly didn't consider God's love in bringing her into that perfect garden, or the punishment He had promised for disobedience.  Nope, all she knew was that she wanted that fruit, and she literally fed her desire.  Had she considered Adam, she would not have allowed him to suffer with her, let alone encourage it.

Sex is a most beautiful and precious gift as well, every bit as desirable and wonderful as that fruit must have been.  But outside of a marriage commitment, it can lose its magic as well.  Today, we not only have the serpent telling us not to wait, but he also has a whole bunch of help.  In fact, you might even argue that you can tell how precious sex is just by how hard the devil tries to ruin it!

Just turn on the radio or television for five minutes, and you'll probably hear or see premarital sex being promoted.  Yet, the more they promote fornication, the less valued sex seems to be.  And if it's not valued before marriage, how on earth could it be valued within a marriage?  This even leads to an incredible amount of divorces.  Marriages break up all the time because one of the spouses isn't happy with his or her "sex-life."  Why is it so disappointing?  Probably because they're comparing their spouse to someone else!

Why do affairs happen?  Well, sometimes it is because people want more "adventure" in their love life.  By not waiting to have sex until married, there's nothing pure, new, or exciting about it.  What do these things have in common?  They're all selfish.  Affairs are clearly selfish.  Not only that, but they seem to break every one of God's commandments.  They're adulterous.  They involve coveting someone and setting either a person or sex up as an idol.  They involve stealing from one's own spouse, be it time, money, love, attention.  They certainly don't honor the parents of any party involved.  They are covered up with lies and deceit.  They kill marriages.

How could having sex before marriage be any better than an affair later?  The way I see it, sex before marriage is still cheating on your future husband or wife.  It robs them the joy of knowing that they're the only one.  Marriage is about giving one's body, mind, and soul to their mate, but what if they've already shared that body with someone else?

The world persists, though, "No, it's really not that bad."  "If it feels good, go for it."  Well, if beating one's girlfriend or wife or kid or parent feels good at the time, should we go for that too?