I recently did a thing. I resigned my full-time position. To be fair, when I entered back into the work fray after my military retirement, I only wanted a part-time position. Which is what I originally found but then a couple years into things, and a couple of position changes later, it morphed into a full-time position.
I tend to stay longer than I know I’m supposed to because I don’t always trust when God says move. It doesn’t always make sense. So, I bargain with God and I plead my side of things and try to out maneuver God with how I think things will go or that maybe, just maybe, He’ll change His mind. I walk by my finite thinking and sight instead of walking in faith.
As I was reading my Bible this morning and journaling the verses I was prompted to read in my Cultivate What Matters – Write the Word Journal, I found myself contemplating Adam and Eve. These were the verses I was given to journal:
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:15-27 (ESV)
God commanded Adam (the man) not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He even told him the consequence that went along with disobeying that commandment. Let’s look at what God did for Adam:
- Gave Adam life
- Gave him an awesome place to live
- Put him in charge of working and keeping the garden (no doubt to keep him away from social media and all things news) HA!
- Gave him an abundance of food
All God commanded was one thing. Don’t eat from the one tree. And yet, even with all he’d been given, he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
From the very beginning God has given, warned, and watched His children choose sin over and over again. And yet, He still provides. Not only does He provide, but He comes after us so we won’t hide in our sin.
I don’t believe the story of Adam and Eve being the first personal story is any mistake. More often than not, we tend look to the sin factor of the story. We look at what Adam and Eve did over all the things God did before and after they ate the fruit from the forbidden tree.
Did He like what they did? Nope. Did He give them a pre-cursor of things to come should they do what they wanted? Yep. Did they hide from God because of fear, shame and guilt? Yep. By the way, fear, shame and guilt were part of the evil knowledge.
It’s important we don’t lose sight of God’s character here. He may have loved them through their sin, but consequences came with that original sin that still affect us today. Sin is no joke to God. Yes, you have free will to choose sin, but make no mistake, your sin, just like Adam and Eve’s sin, affects more than you and can cause serious generational damage. Because quite frankly, nothing is just about you. Nothing.
That’s why it’s imperative we keep our eyes fixed on God, not ourselves. We are flawed yet He calls us His masterpiece. We are sinful, yet He gives us a way out of sinning. He’s a loving Father who provides a way each and every day for us. Choose your path wisely!
A rose by any other name is still a rose. A sin by any other name is still a sin. God hasn’t changed His mind about sin. Have you? Walking by our finite thinking and sight is dangerous. It puts God in a box and brings Him down to our level. In the infamous words of Charlie Brown, good grief look where that’s gotten us!
Yet, God still provides. Why? Because God’s character doesn’t change. We do. And we think God should change with us. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. We humans are a fickle lot. We do what makes us feel good, and what we think we deserve. Please know, I’m right there with you. I still make bad choices, but the more I grow in Christ, the more Christlike I become. That’s my hope and that’s His promise.
I’ll leave you with this reminder from Hebrews 13:8 about God’s character:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.“
ESV
Think about the number of times your character has changed over the years. Now aren’t you glad we have a constant in Jesus? Amen and hallelujah!
Have an amazing day! After all, there’s not been one just like it! It’s all new, brought to you by…not you! Thank you, Jesus!
Blessed to be Broken 
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