WEBVTT

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Day two, or January the second. Does God really

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mean what he says? Our thought today is rooted

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in Genesis chapter three, verse four. You will

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not certainly die, the snake said to the woman.

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Now the big picture surrounding this verse. After

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such a promising start, it all goes rotten very

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quickly, because man and woman decide that they

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know better than God who created them. There

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is only one thing that they are told not to do,

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and so they do it. Isn't that just like people

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today? They could have eaten from any tree in

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the garden, but choose to eat from the prohibited

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one. This results in being evicted from the Garden

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of Eden. and is usually referred to as the fall

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of mankind, when they slip from the perfect state

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God intended for them. Following their exit from

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their garden home, Adam and Eve, names that literally

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mean man and woman, begin a family by having

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two sons called Cain and Abel. They have learned

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the hard way that God really does mean what he

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says. It has cost them a beautiful home in a

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fabulous garden that can never be retrieved.

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Perhaps they'll believe God next time. And now

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our action step for today. Discipline seems to

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be slipping out of vogue in our 21st century

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society. We regularly hear children being told,

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this is your last chance, over and over again.

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Even in airports we hear public announcements

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for the final call for flight so -and -so, and

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this is repeated several times, so that final

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becomes meaningless, and we only react when we

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hear that it's the last and final call. So it's

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not surprising that people can develop a very

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sceptical view of statements in the Bible that

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seem categorical and final. God told Eve that

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she would die if she ate the fruit from the tree.

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Later, when she gets a second opinion, that she

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may have misunderstood or misheard, she is easily

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persuaded. Unlike everyone else, God always means

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what he says. The Bible is full of wonderful

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advice and promises, and they are all for our

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benefit. Take God at his word. and enjoy life

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to the full.