Foreclosed in the Garden?

Adam’s primary role was one of being Steward over that which God Created. That Stewardship was based on God’s rules which were very simple to follow. In fact, the rules were so simple, God only gave Adam one rule:

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” – Ge. 2:16-17

When Adam chose not to obey, a curse was given, and the Lord God foreclosed on the Garden of Eden (Ge. 3). Have you known anyone recently who lost their home, their dignity, their sense of pride, their identity in many cases because of a foreclosure situation? In many of these cases, some fundamental financial rules were broken along the way to foreclosure. Foreclosure doesn’t just happen over night.

Who was it that convinced Eve to eat the fruit? That’s right. Satan was right there making the fruit very appealing to her. He filled her with fine sounding arguments making it seem like no big deal.

Have you ever purchased something on credit thinking you’d pay it off at the end of the month, no big deal. Play now. Pay later. Go ahead, you’ve earned it. You deserve it, he says. You make enough to afford those payments. Look at how successful you’ve been. Show your friends your success. You need this. People in your position do this all the time. Don’t be fooled.

He is slick and ever so subtle in his approach. Didn’t he convince Eve by asking her, “Surely God didn’t say you would die, did he.”He is so good at what he does, that he’s got us telling each other the same lies so he can relax. Don’t we seek “advice” from those we trust who tell us everything will be ok if we can “afford” it? Be careful.

Consider the Ant (c) Introduction pp. 23-24