Adam's Third Mistake
_Detail.jpg)
We had scaled to the highest point. An outcropping looked out over a valley below and a small village.
"I have lived there most of my life," my friend said, pointing a crooked finger toward the small settlement. He had at least three decades on me. He never shared his actual age, but his gray hair, wrinkles and wisdom gave him away. "It is where many come to raise their children. There is little to be concerned of down there."
"That's why we moved here," I replied.
He took a deep breath of the mountain air and stated, "It is, however, difficult to not become complacent."
I wasn't sure what he meant by that, 'complacent'. I didn't give a response, so he continued.
"The good life. The peaceful life," he said. "It causes us to think we are on the brink of paradise. We are not. We are farther than most. We bear little weight. The scaffold on your back is but a piece of kindling. You barely feel its burden. You convince yourself it isn't there. You say, 'I have been blessed', but in reality, you have been tested.
"There are little things, you think, minor iniquities in which you have indulged. Perhaps they are nothing more than moments of lust, imagined. Or perhaps greed and pride have found their way into your being. You have heard it said, 'but I did not act on my thoughts'. The master said, the conjuring of sin in your mind is no less than the action.
"You think this is close to paradise. Do not be fooled. He can come, day or night, and you will owe an account of everything. Be prepared."
"Are you referring to death?" I asked, knowing that my friend had a morbid side, and a tendency to focus on such things.
He answered my question without hesitation. "Do not make the mistake of Adam."
"I do not even know which fruit not to eat," I replied smartly.
"Consider this for a moment," he said. "God told his creation to eat not of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Regardless of every depiction, the fruit was not an apple. For now, let's say, the fruit is one we are no longer tempted to devour, since it has left its scars.
"Adam ate, and discovered guilt. He hid, knowing of his nakedness, and his sin. God called out to him. 'Where are you?' Adam couldn't hide, not from the almighty. He tried anyway. That was his second mistake. First the bite of the fruit, then the hiding from God.
"The third mistake is the final straw. God knew what Adam had done. What if Adam had bore the heavy weight of his sin? What if he had asked for forgiveness, acknowledged that he was at fault, offered repentance, and pleaded for another chance? What do you think God would have done?"
I gave an honest answer. "I don't know."
"Perhaps our God who loves us, who sees that everything in the garden is good, would have answered his plea. It is just a thought, mind you. The possibility doesn't have a chance of being, because Adam passed blame elsewhere. He was human, as we are. We would pass blame as well, if it meant our eternity might be salvaged. Do not make this mistake. Take ownership of your faults. Do not blame another for your stumbling. God knows. He sees with clarity. He sent his son, so that you only have to say 'I am sorry'."
Comments
Post a Comment