"I would never be like Eve!" She exclaimed with a look of disdain on her face. "Why would I want to listen to a snake anyway?!" One of my precious students at church was clearly appalled at the comparison between herself and Eve. After all, Eve committed the first sin and doomed us all. And we would never do something as atrocious as not listen to God. Right? Wrong. I understand this precious girl's reaction. I like to think if I was placed in the Garden of Eden, I wouldn't have ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge, but I think I would have made the same mistake as Eve.
Lets look at this encounter in a different light. Instead of focusing on humanity's collective sin and this specific one, lets take a look at what God gave them in this circumstance. The Bible tells us that God gave Adam and Eve every seed-bearing plant on the face of the Earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it (Genesis 1:29). They were encouraged to eat from any tree they wanted! Except one (Genesis 2:17). Just one tree. I don't know how many seed bearing fruit there were in Adam's day but think of how many we have now. I imagine they had a bounty of fruit to choose from. BUT, they could not resist not having the one tree. Still, the one that that was just out of reach was the very tree she went to.
I find myself facing similar circumstances in my walk of life. I am blessed. So blessed in many ways. If I were to list every blessing, I am certain I could fill my entire journal. And yet- I have found myself fighting discontentment. I have thought things like, "I know I am blessed with a house. But if only I could have THAT house." "I know I have a job, but I really wish I could get a different one." This is an area of my life God has been working on, but I know I'll never be perfect.
The world gives us SO MUCH! We have new released movies at the touch of a button! Groceries brought straight to our car, or house! Two day free delivery for almost any item (oh, Amazon, how I love you). We have opportunities galore, all the money is ours for the taking. We live in a world that teaches us to go, go, go. Work harder, longer, do things faster, be better, get more, do more, make more. Who wouldn't always be looking for the next best thing? Truly, even to live in America means we are blessed. To even be poor in America is to be rich in the world. Some quick research told me that over 700 million people live on less than $1.90 per day!!! Talk about a gut punch.
We can blame it all on the world. Yeah, the world stinks most of the time. But really, isn't the problem in our mindset? God has given us the tools we need. He has instilled in every being a knowing and longing for Him and given us direct words from HIM! And this precious Word tells us
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it (1 Timothy 6:6-7).
It's OK to have great jobs and make an income. God can use those things. Why is it sooo easy, too easy to focus on what we don't have? Shouldn't we be singing his praises for what He has given us? Like Eve, when we focus on everything we DON'T have, we miss the hundreds of trees and plants with fresh fruit that God has given us. Let's focus on his abundance of blessings instead of the things that aren't ours.
Comments