Lest We Forget
Lest We Forget
We were born into a world at war.
I visited Pearl Harbor on a recent trip to Hawaii. Being reminded that since Adam and Eve’s departure from Eden man has been at war.
From Cain and Able to the tribal wars with the Philistines and Judah, David’s conquests and beyond to the Roman Empire. The wars did not end there. In our remembrance, there was the war for US independence, civil war, WWI, WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan; war on many fronts and that fight yet continues.
Some of these wars began because a person decided to take what wasn’t theirs BUT, wanted it. Some wars began in protecting what was theirs from another taking it away. Whether it was power, goods, freedom, faith it all starts with a person and then the war can spread far and wide. But, it all starts with one. With that person’s heart.
It all starts with this person’s struggle. A struggle to become a better person in character or the struggle to get more.
Often there is a war within us from not aspiring to become better in who we are. Many times, its wanting to have what someone else has and willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Or in many cases, its protecting against others desire to take what isn’t theirs to have.
Hmm, it all comes down individuals, to each of us and our heart.
The bottom line comes down to the fight between God and Satan for the heart of mankind.From the beginning, God wanted a relationship with mankind. Time together, creating, building, communicating, it was about being together in a one-to-one relationship. But to have that kind of a relationship it needed to be based on free will: the freedom to choose. Only then could man have an authentic “love relationship” with his maker.
It was risky for God to give mankind the freedom to choose. His unconditional love could be rejected. Mankind could and did allow the temptation, to have what was forbidden, overpower their desire to listen to God. God was the one Adam and Eve knew and trusted. Yet Adam and Eve chose to risk the consequences of their action to gain what wasn’t theirs to have.
It wasn’t that they didn’t know there would be a consequence. God was clear from the very beginning. You can have everything you could imagine BUT the fruit of this tree you cannot eat the “Tree of Knowledge”. If you eat of this tree, you will surely die. Genesis 2:17
It wasn’t because He didn’t want them to have all that was good. The requirement seems to have a two-fold purpose; there was a choice in whom they would follow and equally important God’s desire to keep them safe from the consequences of that choice.
Today we still face the same choices. They may look a little different at first blush but they aren’t any different nor are the consequences.
There is still a fight for our hearts!
Satan wanted what wasn’t his to have. He wanted to be equal or greater than God. The God who created him. He wanted equality with the one who created him. He wanted what wasn’t his to have. When his plan was rejected, he went to war believing more highly in himself that he ought. He believed he could just take it.
He was wrong. Satan turned his focus, ambition, and resources to steal, kill, and destroy God’s creation, that was made in God’s image: US. But God built a bridge with Jesus to give humanity the ability to reject the schemes of Satan.
Jesus, as a human like you and I, submitted himself to God, His Father, resisted the devil and Satan fled. We see it in Jesus’ submission to being baptized by John in the Jordan River and then the Holy Spirit leading Him into the desert and was tempted by Satan. Jesus resisted the devil and Satan fled.
You and I have the same capacity when we submit ourselves to God. We have the power to resist the devil and Satan will flee.
James, the brother of Jesus, tells us this:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 English Standard Version (ESV)
Adam and Eve had an intimate relationship with God that gave them the power to resist temptation. But they chose the temptation to have more. They considered, contemplated, talked it over and made a conscious decision. They decided to take what wasn’t theirs.
How often? How easy? How tempting is it to look at something that looks shiny and new, knowing that it’s not in our budget and start to consider, contemplate and then make the decision to find a way to make it happen?
We have some friends that have an incredible boat they invited us to enjoy with them one weekend. We had a great time. We had fun. We relaxed. We enjoyed the time together. It was nice. I appreciated every minute. And then.
On the way home, I started to consider “what if we had?”. Hmmm, wouldn’t it be nice. We could. You get the direction this is going? Well, within an hour I was figuring out the “how.”
Let me clarify. We have no need or budget for a boat. We don’t even have a place to store one. I might add it took me Nanoseconds to solve that dilemma. But the key was my eyes were tempted not just by the boat itself but the whole experience. There were even good aspects to the temptation. There usually are. But it was in wanting something I didn’t have; nor was it mine to have. That was the temptation.
Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee. It didn’t take too long to realize when I ask God, when I submit to God and His answer, I gain peace and perspective and a right decision. Submitting to God’s answer was and is the key,
We weren’t looking for a boat and this experience confirmed that not getting the boat would be a great decision.
We went to have a good time with friends. It was about the people, not the thing.
The war comes to us with our eyes, our thoughts, and then when we dwell on them long enough, they work their way into our hearts. Someone years ago told me that temptation isn’t in seeing something or even in considering something. Temptation becomes sin when we build a nest and let the temptation move in.When Adam and Eve considered Satan’s proposition, they weren’t at risk. It wasn’t even after they discussed the topic that they were in trouble. It was when they chose not to bring God into the discussion that they would lose it all. They didn’t ask God, the one who would and could, give them the power to say “No, this isn’t for me. This isn’t mine to have.” That’s when they lost the battle.
It is the same with us. When we submit to God, we can resist the devil as James says.
Are you willing to take what you are confronting today and submit it to God?
