Friday, February 25, 2022
The serpent was the
shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really
say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the
trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the
fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat.
God said, ‘You must not eat it or even
touch it; if you do, you will die.’” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to
the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as
soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its
fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she
took some of the fruit and ate it. Then
she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At
that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their
nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves
together to cover themselves. When
the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard
the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among
the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man,
“Where are you?” He replied,
“I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?”
the Lord God asked. “Have you
eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you
gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the
woman, “What have you done?” “The
serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” Genesis 3:1-13
The typical default of humankind is to deny responsibility. It started with Adam, and ended…nowhere. Bill Watterston’s Calvin and Hobbes
took me back to Eden, and the epic struggle of the human family to escape
responsibility for what we do, and, therefore, what we are…sinners.
Calvin is six, and has a thought-world that Stephen King
would die-for. He comes to his Dad and announces: “Ive concluded that nothing bad I do is my
fault”. In the conversation Calvin blames
his youth, bad influences (just like Adam blamed his wife), and today’s cultural
false values.
In the end Calvin takes no responsibility at
all for his behavior…it’s society’s fault! Calvin’s Dad (representing the typical answer from God
for such nonsense) turns the table and replies:
Then you need to build more character. Go shovel the walk. Calvin, shovel in hand, trudging through the
snow, summarizes with a sigh: These
discussions never go where they’re suppposed to.
In the end, Calvin, my friend, these attempts to shed
responsibility reveal that which IS our character; the
discussion ALWAYS goes where God wants to take us…back to truth
For You Today
The Psalmist gives
us right perspective on our Adam and Eve tendency. Today’s final word is the antidote to any temptation
to be Calvin:
Exalt the Lord our
God! Bow low before his feet, for he is
holy! Psalm 99:5
You chew on that as
you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
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