(A compilation of three previous posted articles)
Perils of Experience
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." – Genesis 3:6
If an email has the word "Mr" in the "from" box, I always assume it is related to the "Nigerian" spam-scam. The same is true if the opening line is "Dear Beloved in Christ."
Why?
Experience.
Experience can be a great sorting tool. It can be a great wisdom enhancer. It can also be a deadly "limiter."
We have to strike a balance between trusting the lessons learned from experience and being blinded by them.
What if someone really does use the term "Mr" for reasons of their own? What if a person really does consider me to be "beloved in Christ" and chooses to address me that way with sincerity and grace?
90% of the time, my hunches are correct … but I must be cautious not to miss something importance in the quest for efficiency an safety.
Wisdom is one of the great biblical values, but it is also one of the first great temptations. As I sometimes feel smug about those few areas where I feel wise, I am reminded of our common experience with Miss Eve.
It was just a little voice I heard in the back of my head as I was "sorting" and deleting my email this morning.
"Not so smug, Tom. Your experience does not encompass the entire universe of possibilities!"
Just Dust
"For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:14 ESV)
"You will turn back into the dust of the earth again, but your spirit will return to God who gave it" – Ecclesiastes 12:7 New Century Version (NCV)
"…we therefore commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.." – Book of Common Prayer
"…you started out as dirt, you’ll end up dirt.” – Genesis 3:19, The Message
1: fine particles of matter (as of earth)
2: the particles into which something disintegrates
3 a: something worthless
b: a state of humiliation
But, alas, there is more.
It was the cool of the day on the first day of what they had supposed to be their enlightenment. On the day when they presumed their eyes would have been opened and life would be free, they were suddenly ashamed. What they saw was not the same world of possibilities and wonder, but their own nakedness. They were exposed and vulnerable. All they could think to do was hide.
It was the cool of the day and all was at peace – except the turmoil in their souls.
It was the cool of the day and God was taking a stroll. Ordinarily, that would have been a welcome sound. It would have evoked feelings of blessed anticipation – so sweet was the fellowship they had enjoyed.
“God is coming!” they must have exclaimed many times with youthful glee. “Let’s hurry to meet Him!”
This time, they hurried to flee from Him.
They knew that they would have to have a very unpleasant conversation the next time they met God. They would have to admit that they had disobeyed Him. And to do that, they would have to admit an even more painful truth: they had not believed Him. They had taken the serpent’s word over His.
The serpent had been right about one thing: their eyes had been opened. But they had not seen what they had hoped to see. They had become like gods, but they had not become God or even like God. The only god status they had achieved was the false kind, the fodder of myth and legend. They had come to resemble the capricious, conniving, conscious-of-self kind of creature that knows evil enough to embrace it, but not enough to avoid it.
It was the cool of the day. It ought to have been the most precious time of their day. Instead, because of sin, they hid in the trees God had made. They were foolish enough to think He could not see through them or into their hearts. He sees, He knows, and He comes to confront us and to redeem us. Don’t hide.
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