Have you ever thought about the choices you have made?
Take today for instance. Did you choose to get out of bed? Get dressed? Did you choose to help someone? Did you choose to let someone help you? Did you choose to walk with Christ today?
In our lives we have numerous choices. From small to big, we all make decisions of various kinds each and every day. Many of the choices we make are derived from past experiences. Many choices are almost habitual. Some we don’t even think about much at all. This morning I didn’t think a lot about how many ways I could tie my shoe. I just tied it the way I have always done so based on a choice that was made when I first learned to tie.
Some choices we make have a much larger impact on our lives. Many of us can choose each day whether or not we will go to work. Whether or not we will eat and even whether or not we will eat the right things or the wrong things. And how do we decide what is right or wrong for us?
Please choose to join me now as I ponder the story of Adam and Eve.
Genesis 2 informs us that Adam was placed in the garden of Eden. Among the vegetation, were two trees. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam he could eat the produce of any tree but the tree of knowledge. If anyone ate from that tree, according to God, they would most surely die.
A bit later God creates Eve from the side of Adam. They are now equal partners in the garden. We are left to assume that Adam or God has also told Eve about the forbidden tree. Because she is aware of it when questioned by the serpent in Genesis 3.
The serpent, the cleverest wild animal in the garden, asks Eve about the tree.
He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “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.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Right then and there, Eve was faced with a choice. Did she follow God’s word and avoid the tree? Or does she listen to the serpent. Serpents must have looked a bit more trustworthy back then because Eve chose to the wild animal over God.
She took a bite of fruit from the tree and shared it with Adam. Adam also had a choice of what to do. The very same choice as Eve. He too, chose to eat from the tree.
It’s a bit difficult to say with all certainty why both Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and eat from the forbidden tree. One can only make guesses by placing one’s self in the shoes (or feet) of Adam and Eve.
If it were me, I may have been swayed by the serpent. The curiosity might have gotten to me. I’m the kind of person that looks, immediately after someone says, “Don’t look over there!”
I might also be intrigued by the thought of being “like God.” The desire for that kind of knowledge and power could be overwhelming. Yes. I believe I would have tasted the fruit.
Actually, it’s pretty easy to place ourselves in the garden of Eden. So many of our choices involve, doing the right thing or the wrong thing. Our moral compass tells us for the most part, what is right and what is wrong. I believe that compass is provided from God, much like the instructions given to Adam and Eve. Most if us have very in tuned compasses and yet most of us have chosen more than once to head in the wrong direction. We have all chosen to go against God’s instructions from time to time. (or more.)
We have all cheated, lied, hurt others and more in our lives. Some have probably chosen to sin even this very day. Have we talked badly about someone? Have we disrespected ourselves or others? Have we done anything Jesus wouldn’t do?
So many times, in our lives, we are given the same choices as Adam and Eve. Even when we know God is warning us not to do something, we do it. Usually our choices stem from a desire to feel something.
Sometimes we want to feel powerful. Like when we speak badly about our neighbor. We do this often by judging them. We do this to feel better than them by comparison. To feel better about ourselves. The judge is more powerful than the judged. In a way, we too are wanting to be like God.
Like Adam and Eve, we are given a lot of power in our choices. Adam was given the power to name animals and they were both given the power of caring for the world. They were given the freedom of choices. And so are we. Every day of our lives.
The choice of eating from the tree of knowledge was a bad one. For the first time it made Adam and Eve aware of the dark side of this world. They now experienced awareness of evil in the world and more so, they were now aware of temptation. When Eve and Adam first bit the fruit, they couldn’t fully grasp the idea of turning against God. They were truly fooled by the serpent and blindsided. But the damage was done.
As soon as they bit, they became aware of their nakedness. They lost their innocence and naivety. For the first time, they felt shame, fear, insecurity.
God knew that, with these feelings, humanity would forever be drawn to choices that helped medicate the negative feelings. God knew we would often jump toward the quick fixes in life. The impulses and actions with short term gains, but long-term regrets. It’s because of this that God could not allow us to live forever. Think of the damage we could do if we all lived in sin forever. Just look at the damage we have done thus far. God removed Adam and Eve from the garden and from the tree of life.
Humanity no longer has our innocence. We are no longer ignorant of sin. We no longer have our naivety. But we do still have our choices.
Every single day, we have choices of doing right over wrong. We have choices of following God or following the temptations of this world.
We can succumb to things like greed, materialism, lust, power… whatever the name, it is all from the serpent. It is all temptations with painful consequences.
So often, we want to blame Adam, Eve, or even God for the way our world is. The truth is much more difficult to bare. The reason the world is the way it is, is because of the choices we have made. People are not starving in the world because God causes them to starve. The world has plenty of food. The reason people are starving is because not enough people are making the choices to feed them. So many of us will give money to a fancy restaurant and chose not to give anything to help end the hunger of others.
There are many people hurting in this world because others have chosen to either harm them or have chosen not to help them.
Many of us are hurting because of the choices we have made for ourselves. Choices that were harmful and unhealthy for us.
We have so many choices in our days. So many ways to turn. So many ways to act.
God will help us with those choices if we choose to let God into our lives.
God doesn’t want us hurting. The biblical story is one of God trying to win us back. Like a mother with a lost child, God is longing to hold us again closely. As Adam and Eve left the garden, God clothed them so they wouldn’t be cold. For us, God clothes us with the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Even when we turn away. Through Jesus Christ, God forgives us all for the wrong choices we make in life and shows us how to make better choices the next time. God does want us to live forever with God.
It can be easier to follow God if we choose to stay close to God as much as we can. Adam and Eve made poor choices because they were not with God, but with the serpent. When God came around, they hid. Once they had made their first bad choice, it was harder to face God. The closer we are with God, the more we hear the choices God wants us to make.
What about the serpents in our lives? For many of us, the serpent can be negative people, unhealthy environments, or even various forms of entertainment. (would we watch that show or be on that website if we knew Jesus was right there with us?)
Many times, we can choose our surroundings. We can choose to be among people, places and things that are healthier for us. We can choose to be among the garden and avoid the serpents in the trees.
We can choose to worship God and find others that worship God too.
Do we have people in our lives that we can comfortably talk to about our relationship with Jesus Christ? Is Jesus important to us enough to find people that we can comfortably talk to about our relationship with him?
Are we going to places where Christ is worshiped? Are we worshiping Christ?
Are we making choices based on our relationship with Jesus?
Are we prioritizing God’s will in our lives?
In our lives we have numerous choices. From small to big, we all make decisions of various kinds each and every day.