Welcome to Day 2 of 31 Days of Loving Life! If you have missed Day 1, please read it here.
I'd like to begin today's post with scripture. It's several verses, but read them all. They paint the picture of the first discontentment of man.
Genesis 3:1-7
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 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. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Maybe you are thinking, "Wow, I can't believe anyone could be discontent in the Garden of Eden. It's the Garden of Eden for goodness sakes!".
Well, maybe that's just what I'm thinking. But, it was literal Heaven on earth.
No sickness.
No tears.
No anger.
Only fellowship with God and your perfect mate.
I try my best to imagine it, but I know it was better than the best I can imagine. Way better.
I absolutely love how Ann Voskamp describes this story in her book, One Thousand Gifts.
"Satan, he wanted more. More power, more glory. Ultimately, in his essence, Satan is an ingrate. And he sinks his venom into the heart of Eden. Satan's sin becomes the first sin of all humanity: the sin of ingratitude. Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ungrateful for what God gave.
Isn't that the catalyst of all my sins?
Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren't satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for somehting more, something other."
I have to be honest, these few words have rocked my world. They have ripped open the veil of my selfishness and made me truly look at myself.
The catalyst of all my sins is ingratitude.
Now, I'm not trying to say that because you feel discontentment in your life that you are sinning.
The point I am trying to make is that it is a slippery slope. And, you best get your hiking boots on if you dare to disembark it.
For today, will you do a little self examination? Will you think back on those times in your life when you felt most discontented and ask yourself these questions:
What was it that I felt I was missing out on?
What was my initial reaction? Sadness? Anger? Bitterness? Resentment?
When I think back on this situation, do I feel any of those emotions now?
I hope you will join me again tomorrow as we continue our 31 Day journey!
I'm praying for each of you friends!
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