12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
This is the first time in history someone was guilty of “passing the buck.” It is amazing that excuse making entered the world right after sin. Excuses usually follow sin and this is where it started. Adam could have taken responsibility for his choice. He could have covered Eve with his authority and taken whatever punishment God was going to give. I wonder if the outcome would have been exactly the same if he had confessed his sin instead of passing the buck. God sure seems to like it if we are honest with Him. He can see past the fig leaves we use to cover our sin. In fact, He knows the very reasons we wear the fig leaves in the first place. Adam doesn’t just deny the sin, he attempts to blame God for the sin. “It is that woman you gave me.” It’s those chocolate manufacturers, those advertising moguls, those porn producers, that revealing clothing, that juicy story, that other guy in traffic. Just as Adam points his accusatory finger at Eve and ultimately at God instead of raising his right hand saying, “It is my fault,” so we point everywhere except inward. Of course there are those who have learned that it is always their fault. These folks have internalized the finger pointing of others and believed them. They have come to believe blame messages and unknowingly become vicarious bearers of other people’s rightful guilt. What a burden to bear! It is hard enough carrying the burden of your own rightly earned guilt. But to bear other people’s guilt, that can be intolerable. Adam did not want to bear the blame for his decision. He pointed at others, but ultimately the consequences of his choice came back on him. God ended up pointing at him and placing a great burden on his shoulders for his sinful choices. If Adam had come clean, I believe the outcome would have been slightly different. We want our children to come clean when they have sinned. We oftentimes give them less punishment when they tell us the truth the first time, rather than lying and trying to cover their sin. Let’s stop running from our sin and face it, confess it, and take the punishment.
The Arnold Journey 