Sunday, September 16, 2012

In the garden

Today at church my pastor was talking about Genesis and it got me to thinking.

As I read along with him in Genesis Chapter 3 he talked about how the serpent came to Eve and asked her "Did God really say 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?
And how Eve responded by saying that "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die." The snake told Eve that she would surly not die, but that God was afraid if she ate it her eyes would be opened and she would be like God, knowing good and evil.

The snake tricked her, and confused her, and tempted her. And she gave into it. 

Of all the trees and all the beauty and all the wonderful things of God that she had at her finger tips, there was only one that she couldn't touch. And it was irresistible to her!

As i sat there thinking, i couldn't believe it. I know this story, as many of you do, but i thought of it today as me in that garden. Eve wasn't perfect. Only Jesus was. She was just a woman.

Just like me. 

She had the world at her finger tips and she chose sin. That boggles my mind. 

Think about it for a second as if you were in that garden.  Daily meetings with God in the garden, the presence of God literally with you everywhere you went. Having the physical presence of God, walking in the garden with you daily.  And she gave that up for more knowledge.  Knowledge.

I can't comprehend it. 

As i sat there, i wished that just for one day i could be like Jesus. Perfect in every way. Never sinning. Can you imagine?

And then i thought, if that were me in that garden, would i have given into sin? Would i have eaten that apple?

It has been making my mind wonder all day. 

We live in a world full of sin. Temptation. Persecution. Selfishness. Blame.  I am just so aware of the fact that as humans, we are never satisfied. I mean, Eve wasn't even satisfied--in the garden of Eden!!! She wanted more. And to be honest, it annoys me.  What the heck, Eve? Why did you do that! It really bothers me that we are that weak and selfish.

And just think now of the world that we live in, the amount of sin that occurs on a daily basis. We feel like we are hidden from God and that our sins are invisible. I think we honestly believe that sometimes. That is, if we are even consciously thinking about God in the first place.

Are we never satisfied? Can we justify every selfish motive we have? Or are we happy where we are and content with what we have?

Honestly, think about it?  Think about Eve, just a woman. A mere mortal. What if we could do it all over again, and this time, we were in that garden. Would we stand by God? Would we trust in his love for us? Would we be content to walk with him daily and ignore the one teeny tiny tree that we weren't allowed to touch? Or would we focus on it. Focus on it until it consumed us and we just had to try it?

I don't say this like i think i know the answer. I just ask the question because it is bothering me today.

Would I? Could I? I don't know. But i like to think yes.  And if think i would trust him in the garden, am i trusting Him every day with everything in my life?

I don't know...


(This song is one of the most amazing songs that i have ever heard. Today Dan & Angie Leverence sang it at our church and it was fantastically powerful!! (its from 'The Story' and sung by Matthew West and Leigh Nash))


1 comment:

  1. What a great blog....Really spoke to me. Just shows me how much trust I really need to put in HIM....

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