Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked
Genesis 3:7
This New Year, I made a resolution to read the Bible cover-to-cover.
To make it more interesting, I had a contest with my daughter on who
finishes it first.
In the book of Genesis, God created the garden of Eden and in the
middle he put two trees. The tree of knowledge of good and evil and the
tree of life. Interestingly, he forbade the man and woman to eat the
tree of knowledge and not the tree of life.
This shows that even in the beginning, the Lord wanted us to live.
This life was to be with him - always living in obedience. If we live a
life of obedience, there is no need to know the difference between good
and evil. This life of obedience requires submission to God.
But unfortunately, our parents failed. They decided that they would
not want to submit to God. They wanted to know for themselves -
determine for themselves what was good and what was evil. So they
disobeyed the Lord.
They decided that they do not need God - so they wanted to plot their
own destiny.
When they decided and acted on that decision, they got to know that
what they did was evil. Eating the fruit made them realized the evil
that they had done. When they did this, sin entered the world.
The source of this sin and all other sins is our not submitting to
the will of the Lord. When the man and woman disobeyed the Lord, they
realized how helpless they were. They probably realized that they were
nothing - so the feeling that they were naked.
One interesting thing about the story is that the man and woman did not
ask God to forgive them. If they had asked for forgiveness, would the
Lord have forgiven them?
As we start this year, let us look at ourselves. What areas of my
life have I not submitted to the Lord? Is it my work, someone dear to
me, a situation, an addiction, my ministry? As we look at it, let us
then come before the Lord in humility and ask him to take charge of
this area of our lives. This is the only way to holiness - submission
to the Lord.
As we begin this year, let us then resolve to submit ourselves to the
Lord so that we can live holy lives.
|
