Scripture Reading:
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
3:2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
3:3 but God said, '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.'"
3:4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die;
3:5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.
3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Message:
In today’s scripture reading we see the very first temptation of all mankind. The forbidden fruit. The very first thing that God commanded Adam and Eve to avoid. It doesn’t speak well for mankind that we disobeyed God’s first rule. However, it does show us what being human is like.
We can see this same story in our
own lives starting in our childhood. When our parents gave us rules, did we
follow every single one? I remember, as a young girl, sneaking down to the
kitchen in the middle of the night to grab a cookie from the cookie jar. This
past weekend I got to see my nieces and nephews. At one point their parents
told them “you can’t have any more candy” and there were tears, and some
attempts to grab at the candy anyway. Everyone has their own forbidden fruit in
their lives, and indeed no one is perfect… Except for Jesus.
As we begin the Lenten season it
is very fitting that we are starting from the beginning of the book. We are
starting out by answering the question, “why do we have lent?” and “why do we
need Jesus”. In order to be forgiven there had to be sin. Before we could have
a Savior we needed to have something to be saved from. So why do we have lent?
It is a time of preparation for Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. For me, it
is a time to draw closer to God, and reflect on the sacrifice that He made for
us. We remember why we need forgiveness, that we are forgiven, and we seek to
change our lives to walk closer to God.
Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for sending Jesus Christ down to teach us how to live and love, and to sacrifice His life so that we can have an eternal life with You. Forgive us our sins, and help us to walk in Your ways. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for sending Jesus Christ down to teach us how to live and love, and to sacrifice His life so that we can have an eternal life with You. Forgive us our sins, and help us to walk in Your ways. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.
Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God
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