“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)
When God created the first human couple, they were perfect, sinless and happy. But they were not like God. They were limited in their understanding of good and evil, and God had forbidden them to eat of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. So, when the devil tried to lure them into sin, he referred to this prohibition. He told them that eating of this tree would open their eyes and make them like God.
His scheme worked. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and behold, their eyes were opened! But what they saw was a nasty shock. “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). Adam and Eve did not receive supernatural knowledge and become like God, but their eyes were opened for their own nakedness (which had not been a problem before) and their sinfulness (which had not existed before). They were ashamed and hid themselves from their Creator. Their innocence and happiness were gone. Now they knew evil — by experience! How much happier would they have been if they had trusted in God’s love and care…
Have your eyes been opened to see what’s in your heart? Do you like what you see there?