Day 2 or January 2. Does God really mean what He says? Our thought today is rooted in Genesis
chapter 3 verse 4.
"'You will not certainly die,' the snake said to the woman."
Now the big picture surrounding this verse. After such a promising start it all goes rotten
very quickly because man and woman decide that they know better than God who created
them. There is only one thing that they are told not to do, and so they do it. Isn't
that just like people today? They could have eaten from any tree in the garden but choose
to eat from the prohibited one. This results in being evicted from the Garden of Eden,
and is usually referred to as the fall of mankind, when they slip from the perfect state
God intended for them. Following their exit from their garden home, Adam and Eve, names
that literally mean man and woman, begin a family by having two sons called Cain and
Abel. They have learned the hard way that God really does mean what He says. It has
cost them a beautiful home in a fabulous garden that can never be retrieved. Perhaps they'll
believe God next time.
And now our action step for today. Discipline seems to be slipping out of vogue in our twenty-first
century society. We regularly hear children being told, This is your last chance, over
and over again. Even in airports we hear public announcements for the final call for flight
so and so, and this is repeated several times, so that final becomes meaningless, and we
only react when we hear that it's the last and final call. So it's not surprising that
people can develop a very sceptical view of statements in the Bible that seem categorical
and final. God told Eve that she would die if she ate the fruit from the tree. Later,
when she gets a second opinion, that she may have misunderstood or misheard, she is easily
persuaded. Unlike everyone else, God always means what He says. The Bible is full of wonderful
advice and promises, and they are all for our benefit. Take God at His Word, and enjoy
life to the full.