Would You Adam And Eve It?

The reading in church was about Adam and Eve. You know how the story goes ...

There they were, Adam and Eve going around happily in the Garden of Eden totally naked and not worrying about anything, except perhaps getting too close to the cactus, or standing near a hot radiator or oven.

They were enjoying their nakedness when one day they met a snake!

Now I don't know about you, but if I were naked and met a snake I'd quickly cover up my bits in case he took a bite.  

If the snake actually talked to me ... well ... I'd probably poop in my non-existing pants rather than engage in conversation with him.

Anyway ... what I don't understand is, after they ate the forbidden fruit, how did Adam and Eve know which are the naughty bits they should cover?

Why not cover their knees for instance? Or their elbows?

Can you imagine? If they'd covered their noses instead; today we'd all be going around naked wearing tiny underpants on our noses!

Anyway ... having distracted myself with these nude thoughts, let us get back to today's reading about Adam and Eve and their sin (which was not staring at each others rude bits).

I noticed, not for the first time I might add, that they did not in fact eat from an apple tree. No where in the story does it say what tree it was. It could have been my favourite mango fruit, or pineapples perhaps, or a variety of other fruits. All it says is that it was a fruit tree.

Which led me to think: would they have been tempted if it was a broccoli tree?

Yes I know broccoli is not a tree. Don't side track me. I was only thinking and I don't claim to always think logically.

As I was saying before you interrupted me.

Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree and committed their first sin.

Now a lot of us consider this to be the sin of disobedience; which in fact it was. But this is not the most serious sin which they committed.

Their major sin was that they wanted to be like God. That's what the snake (devil) had fooled them into believing. They will be like God. They will know good from bad.

To some extent that's what happened. They got to know good from bad, right from wrong, and suffered the consequences.

I suspect that these days there are many who do not really know right from wrong; or choose not to care. But that's another story.

What is important about the Adam and Eve story is how it affects us in our lives.

How often do we also try to act like gods? And want things our way?

If only I could get that job, or that promotion at work, or get so and so to love me, or ...

Why can't other people see it my way? And do as I say? I know I'm right and people should obey me.

Dear God, Thy will be done as long as it is what I want. Please do this, or let me have that or ...

There are too many people wishing to serve God in an advisory capacity. It is almost as if they want to be God.

We say we believe in Him and yet we tell Him, often, what to do. Rather than trust Him to know better the difference between our wants and our needs.

This does not mean that we should not pray to God and ask Him for things. Christ encouraged us to do so in the Lord's Prayer. And as a loving Father, God likes to hear our prayers and respond, sometimes, to our requests.

But let our requests be for our needs, not wants. And let us have the humility to understand that sometimes He may say "No" or "Not now ... I have something better for you!"

Let God be God. And let us be His trusting children.

He did not ask us to understand Him. Only to love and trust Him.

Now get those underpants off your nose and get dressed!