In a whimsical response to the Garden of Eden story, someone once wrote, “It wasn’t the apple in the tree, but the pair on the ground.” The text in Genesis doesn’t get more specific than “the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” This stands in for all kinds of temptation which is common to human kind. I admit that a beautifully ripe apple can be quite tempting, but it is a far lesser problem for most of us than a chocolate donut. Apples come in an endless list of ever evolving types. New varieties have to be grafted in to maintain the proper characteristics, as I understand it. There are apparently thousands of varieties of apples most of which we never encounter in the average grocery store. Temptations likewise are an ever growing set. There are current temptations which were unknown in their detail to those who came before us. We are in no better position than Adam and Eve in their new world, but we do have the advantage of the presence of Jesus who faced his temptations and overcame them by the grace of God. Jesus can help us with our temptations. With Jesus we each become a better “pair” on the ground than we otherwise could be.