REFLECTIONS
September 12, 2010
 
 
Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying your decrees!
Then I would not be put to shame
Psalms 119:5-6
 
 
Walk in the Garden
 
            The day was perfect. All the other days had been perfect too, and so was the garden. The garden was more beautiful than any the world would ever see. Eve could hardly wait to take her daily walk through it that day, but little did she know that the events during her stroll would forever misshape the world.
            Across the way a serpent lay in waiting. He knew that God had warned Adam and his bride about the tree. But God’s command presented only a small challenge to him.
            Can’t you just picture old Sneaky Snake, head cocked and hands on hips, asking Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Pretty shrewd idea to introduce confusion into God’s word wasn’t it. But Eve countered with the quote of  God’s decree, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” But wily old Sneaky Snake was up to the task and continued his challenge. “You will not surely die.” He said. “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
                Adam and Eve were born into God’s perfect world and with but one command—not ten. There was no need for a commandment to love God, neighbor, and self, for hate was unknown; no need for commandments not to kill or covet, for there was no jealousy. There was no need for a commandment not to steal, for everything had been provided; and there was no need for a commandment to honor God, for there had been no notion to disobey him, at least until now.
            Only one commandment, “you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” With this warning God granted the freedom for man to make choices. So, persuaded by the deception of a wily serpent, Eve made a poor one, and Sneaky Snake has been working on us ever since.
            Each day offers us a new opportunity to walk in the garden. Each day also presents temptations to disobey God’s decrees. The Evil One is there at every turn to deceive us and to persuade us to make choices that are disobedient to God’s commands. But even when we do, we will not surely die. We have a Savior.
Because of Jesus and his sacrifice, we are forgiven. And we live.
                 
“You are the light of the world.”
Richard Ì

www.reflectingthesavior.org.


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