Ignorance is Bliss

Genesis 2:25 " And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed"  

As a part of my goals for 2016 I've made a commitment to start and complete the "Bible in a Year". (And now that you all know you all can hold me accountable) As I was reading Genesis 3 the quote "Ignorance is Bliss" came to mind. Now, this quote is often misunderstood and misused so I thought we should delve into it today. Ignorance is simply defined as the lack of knowledge or education. Having defined that term I think we can admit to possessing ignorance in some areas. Now, moving on to the word bliss, which is simply defined as a state of extreme happiness. Incorporating the two definitions gives us a better understanding of the quote thus defining the quote in its entirety as being happy because you simply have no knowledge of anything that will inhibit said happiness.

So why did this come to mind while reading Genesis 3? Well, life in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8-25) seemed to be well. God had provided all Adam's needs. He had given him food, shelter, work, and a help-meet. Both, Adam and Eve, were given the knowledge they needed for the task that had been assigned to them. They were happy, blissful if you will, because they had no reason not to be. Then in comes the serpent with his tactics of temptation convincing Eve to go against the instructions of God and just like many of us she fell into the trap. Although the Bible doesn't specially make mention of it I'm sure Eve thought she was happier in her ignorance than she was with the knowledge she had gained in knowing good and evil. Ignorance truly was Bliss for them.

As for us today, we must understand that there are some things that God intended for us not to know or experience. Not because He strives to deprive us, but because He has promised to protect us. Eve may have been the first to fall victim to the deceiving behavior of the devil, but she surely wasn't the last. We've all had our eyes on a forbidden "tree" perhaps many forbidden trees and most of us have probably fell victim just as Eve did. Yes, satan is still successfully using the same tactics today as he did in the beginning of time. He tries to interfere with the communication between you and God (Genesis 3:1 "Has God indeed said, 'You Shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?") when you know God told you otherwise (Genesis 2:16-17). He tries to convince you that God is a "softy" and will not punish you as He said He would (Genesis 3:4-5). In all of this the very thing that God has told you that you should not desire satan then makes you desire it (Genesis 3:6) and after you have acquired it you realize it wasn't all that the devil hyped it up to be.

#FearlessFAITH #IgnoranceIsBliss