Blue Tint Glasses

Genesis 14:14 – When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Revenge must have been eliminated from Abram’s dictionary.  Word gets back to Uncle Abram that Lot was taken captive after the city of Sodom was overthrown by Kedorlaomer.  And instead of saying, “Punk got what he deserved,” Abram decided to engage.

He immediately tried to rescue his nephew.

Abram displayed two characteristics that I want for my life: (1) He had courage that came from God and (2) he was prepared.  We never know when we will be called upon to complete difficult tasks.  Kedorlaomer had just swiftly reconquered five cities with his army and was quite powerful.  Abram had 318 “trained men.”  Paltry.

He knew he had to engage to save Lot and he had courage in God to do so.  Also, he had taken time to train his men for potential conflict.  Are you prepared to take on an unforseen conflict in your life?  Abram had a thriving relationship with God and a group of people to back him up at the drop of a hat when this conflict arose.

The cherry on top is that after Abram’s people had defeated Kedorlaomer, Abram left it for all the people to see what God had accomplished.  Here’s how.  The king of Sodom wanted Abram to keep the goods he returned but Abram rejected the offering.  He refused to take anything from Sodom.  Even though the huge amount of goods would have significantly increased what he could have given to God, he didn’t want the ungodly king of Sodom to say, “I have made Abram rich.”  Instead, Abram wanted him to say, “God has made Abram rich.”

In this case, accepting the gifts would have focused everyone’s attention on Abram or the king of Sodom rather than on God, the give of the victory.  When people look at you and when people look at me, they need to see what God has accomplished in our lives.

Have confidence in God.  Be ready to engage.  Give the glory to God.

Genesis 13:8-9 -  ⁸So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.  Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

Abram and his nephew, Lot, and all their flocks and herds and tents and went on their way from Egypt to Negev and then from Negev to a place between Bethel and Ai.  I do not know the size of that place between Bethel and Ai, but in my mind I liken it to Albion, IA.

(side note: remember the days before Hwy 20 was finished and to get to Des Moines from Cedar Falls you had to drive through the ghost-town of Albion off of Hwy 14 and inevitably make a pit stop at the Casey’s cause it was the only thing around?  I think that’s where we pickup with Abram and Lot right now.)

So, Abram and Lot stop in the middle of nowhere and this middle of nowhere was not able to hold their possessions…they were too great.  In addition to having too many possessions, Abram’s herdsman and Lot’s herdsman were making fun of eachother, teasing and playing practical jokes on one another and began to quarrel.  Because of all that…Abram and Lot decide to part company.

Abram took initiative in settling the dispute by giving his nephew the first choice of which land he would like.  That stopped me in my tracks right there because Abram, being older, had the right to choose first.  He clearly opened himself up to be cheated.

I’m so dang competitive, I don’t know if I would have done that.  I’m the oldest of four in my family and when I was younger if it came down to the last piece of cake, and I had to split it with my bro, I would cut the piece in half AND choose which “half” I wanted. There was no way I would even think about being cheated.

But not only did Abram take initiative in resolving the conflict, he let Lot have the first choice of land.  And a few verses later we see that Lot chose the best share of land with available water even though it meant living near Sodom, a city known for its sin.  Lot was greedy, only wanting the best for himself without thinking of anyone else’s needs or what was fair.  And even though he chose the land that was “better” it was near the city of Sodom which was known for being wicked and sinning greatly against the Lord.

That’s life, isn’t it?  A series of choices.  And sometimes what we think is good can end up being the end of us.  We too can choose the best while ignoring the needs and feelings of others.  I’m guilty of it in both decisions big and small.  There are a lot of days where I sit around and watch sports all day.  Game after game after game, all the while we need groceries, recycles haven’t been taken back in months and then also my wife is left to do her own thing.

Lot chose the good pasture and available water and it seemed wise at first.  But he failed to realize that wicked Sodom could provide temptations strong enough to destroy his family.  Meanwhile, after Lot had parted, the Lord said to Abram, “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.”  And Abram was given all the land he could see.

It’s hard to resist selfish choices.  It’s tough to put the desires of others first, even if it’s family.  It’s excruiciatingly difficult to open yourself up to being cheated.  But Abram did all those things.  He shows us how to respond to difficult family situations: (1) take the initiative in resolving conflicts; (2) let others have first choice, even if that means not getting what we want; (3) put family peace above personal desires.

May we all live with such wisdom.

Genesis 12:1 – The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”

The Lord says this to Abram and follows it up by saying he will bless Abram and all peoples on earth will be blessed through him.  How old was Abram when God told him this?  75.  And Abram left as the Lord told him.

Not only did Abram listen to God, the land that God brought him to (Canaan) experienced a famine upon his arrival.  Brutal.  Abram had left his family, his country and his people and now there was a famine in his new land.  This was obvioulsly a test of Abram’s faith of which he passed.  He didn’t question God’s leading when faced with difficulty.

However, the famine was so severe that Abram had to go down to Egypt to live for awhile and it is here where we see Abram try to take over.  He thinks that he must deceive the Egyptians by having his wife tell them that she’s his sister.  Abram feared that if they knew that she was his wife then they’d kill him to get her.

In the end, it causes more trouble.  Abram has pretty much prostituted his wife as Pharaoh now wants to marry her.  But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh for being with Sarai, Abram’s wife.  Pharaoh summoned Abram to ask, “why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?”  Abram and Sarai were then sent away.

How does this relate to your life?  I haven’t ever moved to another country.  During my freshman year of college at Kansas I could feel God leading me back home to go to college at UNI.  It wasn’t a comfortable decision to make, but in the end I believe God was leading me to where I could be of greater service and usefulness for Him, similar to Abram.

So, when I told my parents of my intentions they were surprised and very supportive.  The only problem was a few months after I had returned home I had forgotten about why I was there.  I focused on what I wanted and felt like doing instead of what God had called me to do.  I had quickly degenerated into a bad influence on my younger brothers and sister.  I became more focused on when I could have my next drink than when I could read my Bible or cheer at a sporting event.  Problems multiplied.  But once I’d hit the bottom and realized I needed to change, I never second-guessed God as to why he led me back home.  I looked for new opportunities and better situations to follow Him.

God has tremendous plans for all of us.  He wants us to be great, but it is in His power and doing by which we can be great.  When I try to take hold of the steering wheel in my life things go up in flames.  It is God that will bless me, not Me who will bless me.

God may be trying to lead you to a place of greater service and usefulness for Him too.  Don’t let the comfort and security of your present position make you miss God’s plan for you.  And be ready, because when you are determined to follow God you’ll encounter great obstacles.  Just use the intelligence God gave you and things will be a-okay.

Genesis 11:4 – Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Ever wanted a statue built to your own greatness?

I have.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking that I am so good , if only the rest of the world could see how I am that would be sweet.  Obviously, that is flawed thinking.  The people in this chapter built their tower as a monument to their own greatness so that they would not be scattered over the whole earth.

But that’s not what God wanted.

In fact, the Lord came to see the city and the tower the men were building and disliked it.  He thought “man, if they’re doing this now then nothing is going to stop them.”  So he confused their language so they couldn’t understand each other and then he scattered them all over the face of the earth.

These people wanted to maintain their own greatness and never be scattered.  They ended up scattered and unable to understand each other, speaking different languages.  A little more than an irony, I’d say.

I’ve built towers for myself.  I’ve thought before that if I could have a bigger house then I would be set.  Liz and I were looking at a house last year and I thought it would have been fantastic to get it.  Because it was B I G.  And we woulda been good to go.  Not that a bigger house is evil or bad.  But a bigger house became a monument that was for me rather than for God.

Sound silly?  It’s true.  And we do that all the time with things like expensive clothes, entertainment, cars, jobs, vacations, and on and on and on.  Yes, a new house would be nice.  But as I house hunt now it’s not because I need a bigger barn to show everyone else how important I am.  Because I don’t.  We would like to be able to utilize a house for ministry and that changes the focus of house hunting.  The ministry comes before the house.

I don’t hold a home as a monument now.  More importantly, I’ve realized our current home is as great a ministry tool as a new home would be.  I now have an honest appreciation for the home we have and if we never end up moving then that is a-okay.

When we use worldly things to give ourselves an identity and self-worth, they take God’s place in our lives.  We are free to develop in many areas, but we are not free to think we have replaced God.  What “towers” have you built in your life?

Genesis 10:8-9 – Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”

Chapter 10 consists of the family tree of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.  Not too exciting at a glance, but it can be if you really sit down to think about a family tree.  Ever think about your family tree?

In seventh grade we were assigned a family tree project for History class, but this family tree assignment was on steroids.  It didn’t just stop at grandparents or great grandparents…we had to go waaaay back.  It wasn’t too terribly difficult to trace the roots back on my dad’s side, he had a family member that was all over that stuff.  My mom’s side was a bit of a different story.

We struggled to get a lot of the family tree completed and we had to do a lot of digging to fill in each line.  It finally came to a point where my grandma said, “we’ve only got a couple spaces left, let’s create some names…what’s the difference anyway!”  So it was at that moment that great great aunt Edna Lava was born.  Ha, we still joke about making up Edna Lava’s name and sticking her in the family tree assignment and that was a dozen years ago.  We’d even created a personality for “Edna” and talked as if we knew her.

In the lines of the family tree, some people’s entry is a little more than just a name.  There’s an unmistakable quality or personality and stories that go along with it.  This is the case with Nimrod in verse 8 continuing through verse 12.  Within all the names of the family tree of the line of Ham, Nimrod has a paragraph depicting his life.  We learn that he is a great hunter, for instance and we read of his kingdoms.

What will be said about you on your line of the family tree?  There’s a slew of different qualities, attributes, personalities and ways of describing someone and how they lived their life.  What will people say about you?  I’m sure those that know me would have a lot of interesting stories and ways to describe me, but I would hope that people around me would also say, “He really loved Jesus.”  That’s how I want to  live.

Genesis 9:14-15 – Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

This is a very interesting chapter because it includes God’s covenant with us after the flood and then we also get to see Noah get drunk.  We will have now seen both sides of Noah, the beautiful and the ugly.

When Noah stepped out of the ark there was an earth devoid of any human life.  But God gave him a promise which had three parts: (1) never again will a flood do such destruction (2) as long as the earth remains, the seasons will always come as expected (3) a rainbow will be visible when it rains as a sign to all that God will keep His promises.  To this day the promise still holds true.

I’m not a huge nature guy.  I like it but don’t love it.  There are times when I’m enamored by it but it’s not always my no-doubt-about-it pathway to God.  But there is something about a rainbow that really makes me smile and reminds me that I worship a God that does keep promises.  I think that is important to acknowledge.

After the covenant, Noah and his family are going about replenishing the earth and working the soil.  In verses 20-21 we read that Noah has gotten drunk, “Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.  When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.”  A 600 year old man, drunk, naked, and lying in a tent.  Yikes.

To me, this is part of what makes the Bible real.  Noah is a man who has been faithfully following God, built an ark for over a century, his family is re-populating the world and has now gotten drunk and lay naked in his tent and the Bible doesn’t gloss over it.  Noah is a Biblical Hero and we get to see him fall.

Characters in the Bible are real people.  I’m not sure what sin is out there and documented from the lives of heroes in other religions, but that’s why I like the Bible…it deals with the beautiful and the ugly.  These are real people.  Real people who at the same time have done extraordinary things for God.

I don’t condone drunkenness, I don’t support it or think it’s okay.  I have had my struggles with it.  Similar to my past struggle, Noah got drunk and was a poor example in front of his kids.  What this chapter really helped me with is that even godly people–veeeerry godly people–sin and can be a bad influence on their families.  That was me, I was there. This offers hope for all of us.

In spite of our mistakes, hardships and bad decisions, God is with us and will forgive us our sins.  He wants us to call upon Him to help us with our struggles.  It’s not a free pass to do-what-you-want-you’ll-be-forgiven…God never excuses sin and he hates it.

The thing is, God loves us despite our falling short.  Why?  I don’t know.  But he sent His son, Jesus, to die for us.  And he doesn’t ask for a little bit of you here and a little bit of you there, he has asked for every bit of you.

I want to live a life pleasing to God.

Genesis 8:13-16 – By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth.  Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.  By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.  Then god said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.”

Noah was on the ark for one year.  Even when he saw that the surface of the ground was dry he stayed on the ark for another two months and waited for God to tell him to come out of the ark.  What patience!

All the water was gone on the first day of the first month, I’m sure Noah wanted to get off the boat right then.  But, God knew that even though the water was gone, the earth was not dry enough for Noah and his family to venture out and so Noah continued to wait on the Lord.

Patience takes time.  I constantly tell myself that “patience is a virtue” just because that’s what my dad always said.  I think he said that because it is sometimes what he lacked…I’m the same way.  Now the new phrase between us is “patience is also a form of action” which I really like because saying it makes me feel like I’m doing something.  With patience, Noah was doing something for the Lord.  He was obeying and listening for God’s word.  And it’s not as if the situation was easy to offer patience to, he’d been on a boat with thousands of animals for a year.

We all have difficult times in our lives where we must wait.  Like Noah, we must trust God to give us patience during those difficult times of waiting.  It is worth it.

Genesis 7:13-14 – On that very day Noah and his sons, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons entered the ark.  They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings.

I wonder how Noah felt when his family and all the animals were boarding the ark.  Did it have the feel of a family vacation?  I also wonder how in the world Noah got all those animals on board.  I can hardly get my dog to go to the bathroom in the yard instead of on the deck and here’s Noah…boarding tens of thousands of animals onto a yacht, no problem.  And while I wonder those things, I have no problem with this story whatsoever.

A lot of people have beef with this story.  They have problems with a 600 year old man building a boat and rounding up all the animals for a floating zoo.  They question whether eight humans could have cared for the animals while also sailing the ark, how the special dietary needs of some of the more exotic animals could have been catered for, how the creatures could have been prevented from preying on each other, questions of lighting, ventilation, and temperature control, hibernation, the survival and germination of seeds, the position of freshwater and saltwater fish, the question of what the animals would have eaten immediately after leaving the ark, how they were gathered from all over the world and how they could have returned over devastated terrain.

And to that I say, God had it under control.

What Noah was doing was just as God commanded.  God took care of the details of gathering the animals while Noah was building the ark.  God took care of the lighting, ventilation, temperature and diet.  I think sometimes we have the tendency to do the opposite of what Noah did.  We worry about details over which we have no control.

The problem with worrying over details of which we have no control is that we neglect specific areas that are under control.   Things like attitudes, relationships and responsibilities.  Be like Noah.  Concentrate on what god has given you to do, and leave the rest to God.

Genesis 6:22 – Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Two things jumped out at me when I read this chapter. First, in verse 3, the Lord proclaimed 120 years out that man was mortal and he would flood the earth if the people didn’t change their ways and, secondly, Noah did huge things for God and the sacrifice was totally worth it.

I knew that God gave Noah a long time to build the ark, but I never thought about that time in terms of the patience the Lord had with those that were doing evil.  God allowed the people of Noah’s day 120 years to change their sinful ways, showing great patience.  Even today he also has given us time to quit living our way and to begin living his way.

When I was in high school I wanted to read the entire Bible.  Funny thing was, I never instilled any discipline to doing it.  And then I put it off by saying “I don’t need this now, I can do it in college.” Right.  Never happened.  Because when I went to college I bargained that I could do it after college.  And then I put it off after college.  I wanted to do it, but for some reason I didn’t want to give anything up to do it.  Good news though, I finally changed my action and attitude toward it last year and did in fact read it.  A lot of people treat faith or God’s judgment that same way, thinking they can deal with it later.

120 years seems like a loooong time, but eventually the time ran out and the flood waters swept across the earth.  Your time, my time, may also be running out and we must first turn to God for the forgiveness of our sins…and then live such as He has commanded us to.   Because there is no bargaining for additional time.  He wants us to put down the newspaper and magazines and to pick up his Word.  He’s urging us to love our neighbor and to care for the poor.  He wants you to forgive your mom, dad, brother or sister.  Whatever it is, he wants us to live for Him right here right now.

Secondly, the Bible says that Noah was “righteous” and “blameless” be he certainly wasn’t perfect…he just wholeheartedly loved and obeyed God.  Like we do, Noah lived in a world filled with evil but he wasn’t influenced by it.  He was in favor with God and He used Noah to save humanity.  I don’t need to save humanity but I do want to obey God.  That’s a big enough call to have.

Noah obeyed God and then when the Lord gave him the assignment to build the ark he immediately got right to work.  Others were warned of the flood but certainly didn’t expect it.  And think, this huge boat was probably built miles and miles from any body of water.  Not only did Noah build this massive ark, he probably didn’t have an ocean nearby to gaze at as a picture to where the boat would be used!  People denied God and ridiculed Noah, but he just kept trusting and kept building.

People that deny God’s judgment will try to get you to deny it as well.  It’s a constant.  It was that way in Noah’s time and it’s that way today.  But we need to remember that God came through on His promise to Noah to keep him safe.  We can also trust God for our deliverance in the judgment that his sure to come.

Genesis 5:1-2 – When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.  He created them male and female and blessed them.  And when they were created, he called them “man.”

This chapter consists of 30 verses of genealogies which isn’t very thrilling.  But I think it’s included in the Bible for a reason so it shouldn’t be completely overlooked.

In the footnotes of my Bible, one of the reasons for having genealogies in the Bible was to confirm the Bible’s promise that the coming Mesiah, Jesus Christ, would be born into the line of Abraham.  I think that’s a great reason to have them.  They also gave a skeletal outline that helped people remember stories and were added to and passed down from family to family.

Genealogies also point to an interesting characteristic of God.  It says that people are important as individuals to him, not just as races or nations.  Think about that for a second.  In this chapter we have (guesstimate) 50 people listed by name along with their life span and descendants.  God’s attention and love is on each person as an individual.

The next time you feel overwhelmed in a vast crowd, remember that the focus of God’s attention and love is on you!  He created you in His likness and He has blessed you and loves you for who you are.

Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

This simple statement that God created the heavens and the earth is one of the most challenging concepts confronting the modern mind.  The Bible does not discuss the subject of evolution, it simply says that God created the world and from there we go.

I’m totally cool with that.  I don’t really question that concept.  Also, I don’t think that the Biblical view of creation is in conflict with science.  It is, however, in conflict with any worldview that starts without a creator.  But I don’t want to talk evolution, I want to focus on God’s deepest desire: to relate to and fellowship with the people he created.

I love how The Bible starts the creation story with “In the beginning GOD…” simply stating that he was always there, just hangin’ out until he decided to create the earth.  And I’m not sure whether he created it in literally seven 24-hour days or if each day represents an indefinite period of time…but to me that doesn’t even matter.  I know God could have created it in one day if that was his fancy, but the important thing to me is that God created the earth in an orderly fashion.  He didn’t make plants before light, he didn’t have birds and fish before sky and water, and he created men and women as unique beings capable of communication with Him.  No other creation can claim that.  God created the earth just the way he wanted it and he created us in His likeness.

I think we can learn a lot about God in Genesis 1.  We find out that he is creative, he is the Creator (distinct from creation), and he is eternal and in control of the world.  But we also learn about ourselves from verses 27 and 28:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and femal he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Since God chose to create us, we are valuable in his eyes and we are also more important than animals.  It says three times that God created man in his own image, so you know that’s important.  I like to wonder how I was made like God.  I think of good qualities that reflect his image and character.  I’m creative as well as a good speaker, I’m relational and outgoing.  What I don’t think of are qualities that reflect human worth, things like possessions, achievements or popularity.

So if I really step back and take a look at it, I want to celebrate in a way that glorifies the image that God has given me.  I don’t want the world to define you or me, I want us to be defined by God because it is in His likeness in which we were created.

What qualities did God give you in His image?  What do you value?  See yourself as God sees you.

Genesis 2:16-17 – And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the treee of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

There’s a lot going on in this chapter (as if creating the earth in the first chapter wasn’t a lot going on), God has created Adam from the dust of the ground and then creates Eve from Adam’s rib giving us an example of a man leaving his father and mother to be with his wife and becoming one flesh.

However, it is also in this chapter that we also get the first reference of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil of which God has commanded Adam not to eat from.  When I stopped thinking about what I know will happen concerning the tree and simply focused on the tree itself and why God put it there I realize a few things.  God has called it “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” meaning that evil was already a part of the equation at that point.  The name of that tree alone implies that evil had already occurred, if not in the garden, then at the time of Satan’s fall.

So rather than physically preventing Adam from eating of that tree, God gave him a choice…and inviting the possibility of choosing wrongly.  A free will.  God still gives me choices everyday, and everyday I seem to make a wrong choice or ten.  But after living with consequences of wrong choices and decisions that cause pain, I think it has taught me to think and choose more carefully.

But why would God even put that tree there in the first place and forbid Adam from eating of it?  Why even offer us the option of good or evil?  I think it’s because God wants us to obey, but he also wants us to have the freedom to choose.  Because without a choice, we are essentially prisoners or slaves and any obedience on our part would be hollow.

When I was in elementary school I had many forms of hollow obedience to my parents, one of which was cleaning my room every Friday.  That was the rule they had.  And I the only reason I would clean my room was because my mom made me and if I didn’t have it cleaned then I wouldn’t be able to hang out with friends, play video games or do anything that an elementary boy would find fun.  I cleaned my room because I was forced to, and I didn’t ever enjoy the clean room when I was done simply because the reason I did it in the first place was as a means to be able to do something else.  But, surprisingly, there were a few times when my room was so messy I couldn’t even stand it so I decided it clean it without being told do.  It was a choice to clean it.  And it was after I made the decision to clean my room, without being sent there to do it, I was able to enjoy the sparkling room when it was done being cleaned.  Same result as the Friday after school cleaning, but this time I had ownership in it.  And it made my mom smile too.  I think that’s why God gives us the freedom to choose even when his deepest desire is for us to obey His plan for us.

So not only can I choose to honor God everyday with the decisions I make, I can reap the rewards for choosing to obey and spurn the sad consequences that come from disobeying God.

What I realize from this chapter is that God does not force us into anything…he’s given us a free will.  But I believe that deep in our hearts we long to worship God and to surrender to Him.  The beautiful thing is that he’s made it personal for each and every one of us to choose with our own minds to obey his word and to give Him the glory.  It’s not a cookie cutter cop out for everyone, there’s no one-size-fits-all-faith.  And when we do glorify God with our decisions, He’s there with a big smile.

Genesis 3:6-8 – When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he at it.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and mad coverings for themselves.  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

I think Genesis 3 gives us great insight into how Satan goes about tempting us everyday, it’s so important to understand.  We can also look at this chapter and derive an effective plan to refuse the temptation of sin.

Right off the bat, in the form of a serpent, Satan asks the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Satan knows dang well that God has only commanded that one tree in the middle of the garden not be eaten from but his question puts all the trees in the garden in that same blanket.  The way he asks the question totally disregards what God has given Adam and Eve and draws attention to what God has withheld from them.  Satan tempted Eve by simply getting her to doubt God’s goodness, implying that he was strict, stingy, and selfish for not wanting her to share in His knowledge of good and evil.

It’s a lot easier for me to be upset over what I don’t have rather than focusing on and thanking God for what I do have.  Liz and I are adopting two children from Poland and the process has lasted about a year now and we knew it would be a long haul but that hasn’t made it any easier to go through.  With seemingly everyone around me popping out babies, it was really easy for me to have some resentment and wonder why not us? But realized that I don’t want to think like that.  Through this adoption process God has been true with countless blessings such as parents, family and friends who are involved and just as excited as we are for the arrival of our children, financial support, a great adoption agent and Christian organization…and that’s just at the surface.  To even have the opportunity to adopt is a huge blessing.  I don’t want to doubt God or hold resentment because what I don’t have in my life.  He has blessed me abundantly and I need to take time to thank Him for those blessings every single day.

So after Satan’s question to Eve, in Verse 3 she responds with: 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.” Have you ever embellished a story or made your circumstances sound harder than they actually were?  I think that’s what Eve has done here when part of her response includes “…and you must not touch it.“  Did God really say you must not touch it?  God simply said you must not eat of it, but by adding the no touching part makes it sound much worse than it is.  Eve took God’s words and added to it, making it  sound much worse than it was.

How could Eve have resisted temptation?  The same way we can resist temptation, first, knowing that being tempted is not a sin.  I think it is huge to realize that it’s not a sin until we have given into the temptation.  Once we realize that we are being tempted and have not sinned, we must pray for strength to resist, run from the temptation (sometimes literally), and say no when confronted with what we know is wrong.

I think that there are times when I have the illusion that freedom is doing anything I want.  But really, God says that true freedom comes from obedience and knowing what not to do.  The restrictions He gives me are for my good and help me to avoid evil.  I think I’ve learned the hard way that I don’t have to do evil to gain more experience and learn more about life, God has given me true freedom.  God’s way is better than my way.

To close, in relation to the opening verse, the thought of two people covered with fig leaves trying to hide from the all-seeing, all-knowing God is humorous.  How could they be so silly as to think they could actually hide?  Yet I do the same thing.  I don’t want it to be that way, I want to share all I do and think with Him and let it be in His strength where I live my life.  God is walking through the garden and I know He wants to be with us.

Genesis 4:6-7 – Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

My, oh my, are we witnesses to how fast sin escalates or what?  Adam and Eve’s episode with the fruit in the garden brought sin into the world and now we witness the sinful nature in their children.  Only this time instead of eating a piece of fruit it’s outright murder that we’re dealing with.

One small sin can have a way of getting out of control if it’s not dealt with.  Cain was not in line when his sacrifice was rejected by the Lord and he became angry.

Verse 7 really jumps out at me: But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. We really need to be aware of that.  Sin is always lurking.

My parents tell stories from my childhood that relate to my “Cain syndrome” as an older brother.  I’m the oldest and Alex was born a couple years after me in November and so once the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons had passed was when I finally realized that Alex was sticking around.  The punk was there for good.  And that didn’t sit well with me.

Mom stayed at home with us and, since I wasn’t getting ALL the attention as I used to, I developed some naughty habits.  Alex was the source of my displeasure.  When he was in the crib, I would crawl underneath, lay on my back and push my legs up to lift the mattress and roll him to one end…then I’d go and roll him back the other way.  If Alex was napping in Mom’s lap, I’d walk by and yell “HI MOM HOW ARE YOU DOING” just to wake the baby.  I got so used to the punishment, after I did something wrong I would snap back at Mom, “What are ya gonna do?  Spank me?  Or send me to my room?”  At that point the tension had to be put at ease…..so we joined the YMCA.

Whether we know it or not, sin is always crouching at our door and we must master it.  It’s no different than being a naughty child.  The only thing is we can’t master sin with our own strength…we must turn to God.  And it will be a lifelong battle, but we can’t go it alone.

How do you react when someone suggests you have done something wrong?  Do you move to correct the mistake or deny that you need to correct it?  God gives us the chance to right our sin and try again.  But if we refuse to admit our mistakes, Cain’s life is a startling example to what happens.

The next time someone suggests that I’m wrong, I want to take an honest look at myself and choose God’s way instead of Cain’s.  That’s my prayer today.