Genesis 3:8-15 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate." 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."
I am giving away my age in remembering that quote from a popular tv show of the 60s; Flip Wilson, a very popular and very funny comedian, had a show (guess! The Flip Wilson Show) in which he played a character named Geraldine who got into all sorts of trouble, usually buying things she could not afford, and her ready excuse was, "The devil made me do it!" I'm sure Mr. Wilson got it from this passage. The two first humans, in a great relationship with God, ruined it by disobeying God and eating from the tree from which they shouldn't, and having now the mind to make decisions between good and evil, judge the first judgment: Being naked is bad, or that what God had declared good in earlier chapters is now declared bad by the humans. Sounds like us, doesn't it? And to make matters worse they hide from God. When asked where they were, the man answers he was afraid because he was naked. God asks who told you you were naked? Have you done what I asked you not to do? And the blame game begins; the man blames the woman, and the woman blames the serpent, aka the tempter, aka the devil. And the serpent is reassigned to a new role in creation.
You and I have the ability to choose between good and bad. And when we do choose bad, it is us choosing it. If we get caught, we try to find a rational excuse for it. Better yet, sometimes we try to blame someone else for our bad judgment. Flip's character immediately went biblical. Yet, we are called to admit our wrongs and to confess our sins. God is faithful and just in forgiving us if we would but say we have done what we did, confess it, and repent (turn away) from it. Like with the first humans, God desires a relationship with us, so forgiveness is a part of any relationship if it is to survive and in our relationship with God, we must ask forgiveness from God. There are times when we believe God has done something against us or something we blame God for causes us to be angry with God and we may sit and wait for God to come ask forgiveness of us; we usually find out, God desires the best for us and is with us when we experience something tragic or horrific; all we can ask is for our forgiveness and for strength for what we have experienced. And God provides it. The entire Eden episodes were about the ancients explaining the type of relationship God desires with us. Eden means paradise and I call God's desire for a relationship a paradise relationship. We are the ones who usually mess it up, but God can restore it.
PRAYER: Loving God, forgive me for those times I do what I shouldn't; and especially please forgive me for those times that I try to find someone else to blame when I know I am the one at fault. This I pray in the Name of He who bore my sins and took my place; Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
