Day 2 — When Trust Gives Way

Day 2 · The Gospel: God’s Saving Grace · Genesis 3:1-19 (NET2)

Sin enters through distrust of God's word and goodness. The promise of independence leads instead to shame, hiding, blame, and death. Yet God comes seeking the people who have turned from him. Read honestly, without excusing sin or forgetting the God who addresses sinners.

Request

Father, by your Spirit, expose the lies I believe about you. Help me confess honestly and turn to you through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Read

Genesis 3:1-19

¹ Now the serpent was shrewder than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; ³ but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” ⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, ⁵ for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” ¹¹ And the Lord God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” ¹³ So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all the cattle
and all the living creatures of the field!
On your belly you will crawl
and dust you will eat all the days of your life.

¹⁵ And I will put hostility between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase your labor pains;
with pain you will give birth to children.
You will want to control your husband,
but he will dominate you.”

¹⁷ But to Adam he said,
“Because you obeyed your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
the ground is cursed because of you;
in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
but you will eat the grain of the field.

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat food
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”

Scripture: NET Bible, Second Edition (NET2).

Reflect

1. How does the serpent distort God's word, and what changes in the relationships after the man and woman disobey?
2. Where are you tempted to hide or shift blame rather than trust God and take responsibility?

Restate

Describe how distrust of God leads to sin and broken relationships.

Respond

Let the passage guide your prayer. Use these prompts in your own words:

• Praise: Honor God's goodness and the truth of his word.
• Thanksgiving: Thank him for seeking sinners rather than leaving us in hiding.
• Confession: Name a sin without blaming someone else; turn to Christ for forgiveness.
• Intercession: Pray for someone burdened by shame or caught in deception.
• Petition: Ask for courage to be honest and trust God's wisdom today.

Carry it into today: Notice one excuse you make today. Replace it with an honest confession and an appropriate step toward putting things right.