The Fall

As I was preparing my journal for my daily bible reading today, I really had no clue in the world what I was going to post about. My mind has been racing all over the place the past couple of days. Life really hit my right in the mouth and I was a little behind getting things done, but as the week concluded I was all caught up. I say my mind has been all over the place because this is a busy time of year. We just finished up the regular season and start conference tournament this week. We head out to the NAIA national tournament in two weeks and then our season will be over. So along with basketball, school has been very busy along with trying to figure out what I want to do over the summer. My focus, my mind, and my heart might be all over the place right now but one thing remains and that is my relationship with Jesus Christ. Through it all He is there and the Spirit is inside of me doing work that I cannot comprehend on my own. In Christ, that is where I find fulfillment in the midst of all the things that I am going through. Today in my journal I wrote, "THE WORD FILLS YOU WITH LIFE." I wrote that after reading Genesis chapter 3. I didn't write that because of what Genesis chapter 3 said...I wrote it because as soon as I opened up my bible to read, my day entire mindset about today changed. I was filled. Now that experience I feel when I read the bible and spend time with the Father is a feeling like no other...that is because it is true and real fulfillment...the only kind! I want to encourage you with that, but that isn't the whole point of my post about "The Fall." I shared that because I know that we all long for some type of fulfillment in our busy lives and the answer is right in front of you. Sometimes you just have to do something about it.

The Fall

I started reading a chapter of Genesis a day a couple of days ago because it's a book that I haven't read in a very long time. Today, I landed on Genesis chapter 3. I am sure that you have all heard that story of how Eve was deceived, she took a bite of the apple, along with Adam and then everything changed. Reading it today, there were some new things that stuck out to me that I hadn't noticed before. Bare with me, it's 19 verses of scripture.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. 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 so you will die." "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knowns when you eat form it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for good 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 ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of God and the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they kid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commend you not to eat from?" And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she game me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."The the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." So the Lord God said to the servant, "Because you have done this,
'Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

To the woman he said,
"I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."

To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,'

"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food rom it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until your return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.


Looking at this passage and reading through it a couple of times now, there are some things that make me wonder. I really wonder what the earth was like before Adam and Eve sinned. The serpent, which was a snake (I think), was literally saying things. Did all wild animals talk? If so I can't even imagine how cool that would be. Adam and Eve also noticed that they were naked. I can't comprehend what it would feel like to be naked and have no idea that being "naked" is even a thing. Also, I guess there would not be any pain in childbirth if it wasn't for Adam and Eve. That is something that I won't have to experience first hand, but I am sure there would be a lot of woman who would be thankful for no pain during childbirth. I also wonder what the Lord God meant when he said:

"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until your return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

How did Adam and Eve get food before the fall? All of the things I have addressed really make me think.

I think one of the most important ideas you can take away from this story is that one decision can change everything. The serpent made the fruit from the tree look so good and appealing that Eve said yes. Be careful of the areas in your life where you are caught in the midst of a decision between something temporary and something eternal. Don't believe the lies that Satan throws at you, Eve was deceived and everything changed. Just because something is appealing and looks the best for you and someone tells you that its the best decision to make doesn't mean it's the right one. Be careful in your decision making because one wrong decision could ruin some things in your life that you have spent your entire life building up.

If you can take one thing away from this post, I hope that you understand how one decision can change everything. You know what the cool part is? We serve such a loving God who gives us so much grace. We are human, we sin, we make bad decisions sometimes, but in the end we are still God's children and still loved by Him. So if you make the wrong decision don't get too down or upset about, spend time working on how you're going to make the right decision the next time,

~ you are loved ~