Lenten Devotion – Evil is Disciplined

~~Genesis 3:14-24
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”  To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” –therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden , to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

~~Peace, joy, love, hope, and grace, all come back down to earth. What we hear now is sin, consequences, pain, hard work and death. God is not pleased.
God made clear what ‘not’ to do. These first characters, the first family of God, tell us a sad, sad story. They did not listen. God was clear. “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it or you shall die.” One request. You know the tree. Leave … it … alone.
You leave the house for work at 7. Your fifteen year old is off from school due to snow and ice – with nothing to do for the entire day. Absolutely nothing. You leave a note: ‘take the garbage out by noon.’ You come home at 5. The garbage is still in the can. One request. It was not fulfilled. You have worked your fingers to the bone for the family. You are very angry. ONE REQUEST.
Disobeyed. This is beyond your comprehension. You were clear. Did not ask much. One thing. And they played video games and checked Twitter and Facebook all day. You made a request. It was ignored. There will be consequences.
God says, ”Obey me. It will be worth your while.” It is the oldest story in the world. Adam and Eve stumble. To this day, we repeat the words on Ash Wednesday, ‘you are dust and to dust you shall return.’
At least our end is found in our beginning. God scooped up a handful of dust and breathed life into it. A beautiful gift was given to creation – us. Who would have thought we were made of dust, except perhaps Proctor and Gamble. Pure miracles we are, walking around on this terrestrial ball.
In exchange, God asked one thing: obey.
Not much has changed since then.
Separation began in a beautiful garden, and it was not good.   Jeff Bell