Learning to Despise Forbidden Fruit

"Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off" (Prov. 23:17-18).

Often, I find myself trying to imagine Eden in all its pre-Fall glory. I try to envision the splendor of the freshly grown fruit. I can't help but wonder what that lush paradise must have smelled like, what it must have looked like, and what it must have sounded like. It is impossible to truly imagine a world not tainted by sin. But it is fun trying. Everywhere a person turned must have been bursting with life: plants to tend to, animals to name and care for, fruit to be enjoyed, and a kingdom to be explored.

Imagine the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It stands alone, marked off from consumption. Forbidden fruit appears so sweet, but in reality it is a poison. Death comes in the partaking of the fruit. Relationships are broken. Darkness descends.

Now, fast forward to our time. The forbidden still tantalizes us. On the surface it appears delectable. It promises unending pleasure, if only we will take a nibble, but it will turn bitter in our stomach. Sin always kills. Always. The fruit that tantalizes, ends up biting us back. Thus, comes the warning: do not let your heart envy sinners.

The fruit of their life may seem appealing to the eye, but death is waiting in the wings. Don't misunderstand me, I am not trying to suggest that there is no pleasure in sin. Sin's pleasures last their season, but they do not last forever, and they always pay the dividend of death. They are a tantalizing fruit that attracts they eye, but that poisons the body.

Thus, Solomon warns his reader to keep the right perspective. The pleasures of sin have no lasting reward. They grant a temporary reward that is often short lived. The excitement of a forbidden kiss wears off pretty quickly. Shame and guilt often follow shortly. Fear of discovery follows the flood of guilt and shame. Should sin go undetected for awhile, callousness sets in. The sinner begins to feel untouchable (although they may cycle through guilt, shame, and fear). They begin to assume that their sin has gone unnoticed. As believers, we know that no sin goes unnoticed, nor unpunished.

We keep in mind that God has planned for us a glorious future. The paradise lost in Adam's rebellion will be restored through Christ's obedience. We set our heart to walk in the fear of the Lord, and in so doing we know our hope cannot be cut off. We may not get to enjoy some of the "pleasures" this world enjoys, but we have greater pleasures awaiting us in the presence of the Lord.

That is not to say that all our pleasures are otherworldly or heavenly. We enjoy great pleasures here and now, while anticipating greater pleasures to come. When we enjoy the good gifts that the Father has given us, they come without shame, guilt, or fear. As we enjoy them, we are practicing what is good, right, and wholesome. The good gifts, in all the joy they bring, are only a taste of greater joys still to come.

Let us return to the Garden. We are surrounded by trees bursting forth with new fruit, sweet and fresh, unspoiled and unblemished, all ours except one tree. It stands in the center and bears the warning: "eat and die." Would we snatch that fruit from its branch and sink our teeth into it? Not only would we, we have. We have all eaten of the forbidden fruit of sin and have been sentenced to death. The good news is that Christ has come and died in our place. By faith in Christ, we have been made new creatures.

As new creatures in Jesus our Lord, our hearts have been realigned. If we envy sinners, then we are saying that what they have in their sin is of greater value than what we have in our Savior. Solomon points the way: "continue in the fear of the Lord all the day." The simple fact is that what we have in our Savior is infinitely more valuable (and enjoyable), than what sinners have in their sin. For we have a future and a hope (see 1 Pet. 1:3-9).