“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)
This is the answer I promised you yesterday. It is the Monday Short that answers the question, “What Happened To The Simple Life?”
Not excusing you and not just pointing the finger at the first man, Adam, but he is the first example that in itself answers the question at hand. Adam had a simple responsibility, void of all the complications and consequences that come with a callous heart that turns one to commit sin. In some cases, as in Adam’s story, it is the convincing, conniving influence of the evil alternative that complicates life, not only for him, but for mankind in general. Let me inject out of necessity, “Thank God for Jesus!” Think about that for a moment! Now look at how the simple life came in the closing verses.
One of my acquaintances, a graduate student, enrolled in a 400-level course at the university where I was an adjunct faculty member, was talking to me about all the times he had wondered why his life was so complicated. At the end of our conversation, the student, knowing I pastored a church, simply said, “I have complicated my life by not adhering to God’s word.” He went on to say, “I believe as a child of God that I have been forgiven, but I also believe that I am still reaping what I sowed by making life so complicated, in other words by my many mistakes. Yet, I thank God for His mercy and His patience with me. Life will always have its share of problems and troubles, but I have become more cognizant of the impact of my choices and have looked to live the simple life?”
What about you, my friend? Are you complicating the simple life in the same way? Be like the students above, change and look to live the simple life. Have a magnificent, mercy-filled, marvelous Monday! Smile! Be blessed!
“Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; cursed is the ground because of you; with hard labor you shall eat from it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; yet you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19 NASB)
Mark L. King