Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Fall: Violation of purpose of creation
Genesis 3:1-13
Vs 4 - “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 
In today’s portion we are meditating on the fall of creation. God created us with a beautiful entity called ‘free will’. We have the freedom to choose anything and everything in life. In the Garden of Eden, He created Adam and Eve with this potential and a command - not to eat from the tree of good and evil (Gen 2:17).

What made Eve take this grave decision, which lead to the fall of human beings and of all creation? Eve could have spent much time with the serpent. Bible says that God walked with them in the Garden during evening times. How was she spending her time the rest of the day? In any case, she came to a point where she has some agreement with the serpent, and they might have had few leisurely conversations even prior to this. How we spent each second of our life has long lasting consequences?

Secondly, Eve slowly started believing Satan instead of God’s promises. Satan’s promise was you will not surely die, and he accused God of hiding some good things from man (i.e. your eyes will be open, you will be like God). Here we need to pay close attention. Now we see Eve standing near the tree of good and evil with her “free will”, and a confused heart. She never defended God’s promises while Satan tried to convince her with lies. She never tried to discuss with God about this conversation. While we face many temptations in life, we should be able to take it to God through prayer and defend it with God’s word.

After much thinking Eve decided to eat the fruit and give some to her husband. With no further question Adam ate it too. It is one thing to trust and love our partner, but at the same time we need to correct our God given partners in matters of faith and trusting God. Job called his wife a foolish woman when she asked him to curse God and die in his suffering.

Satan is a big liar and master of all liars. With the disobedience of Adam and Eve, sin came into this world and changed it to a place of suffering and hatred. Since God cannot change His nature and His Love is never ending, He decided to come down to earth as a human being and to suffer and die for us on the cross. He destroyed Satan forever and gave us hope and future, if we accept this salvation through our free will.
Now, how are we using our free will, to meditate on His Word, to follow him, to love our brother, to hate evil, to spend time in prayer instead of social media. The choice is ours, but each decision has long lasting consequences. May God strengthen us to take the right decisions.
 
PRAYER
Father God, give us the courage to take decisions according to your will in each moment of our life. Amen

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Gods word will help us to discern Satan’s lies in our daily life.  
Dr. Jereesh T. John, St. Thomas MTC Yonkers, NY
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

Popular posts from this blog

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
  Constant, patient and welcoming love of God   St. Luke 15: 11-32  V.21: And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ The parable of the ‘Prodigal son’ is one of the most frequently quoted parables that Jesus told His disciples. The parable contains the rich mine of human virtues and emotions. This parable is lived and re-lived in progressing civilizations from time immemorial and continuing. It brings out in vivid detail the pathetic depth of human sinfulness and the glorious heights of God’s forgiveness.      As a story of human nature, fathers are generally merciful to their children in any circumstance. They are very protective and are eager to provide for and secure the lives of their offspring. Jesus is telling this parable to underscore the superlative love of God to His children. The nature of such love is reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 7:11. Humankind wh...
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Revelation for Liberation Acts 27:18-26 Sherine Thomas Long Island MTC, NY 20  When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. “After winter comes the summer.  After night comes the dawn.  And after every storm, there comes clear open skies” so said a Scottish clergyman from the 1600s. It’s been said, that hope can sometimes be the most dangerous weapon.  However, it’s sometimes the hardest weapon to carry when you’re living with the loss of a loved one, something that almost feels like a terrible nightmare that’ll never go away.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry when day in and day out no one seems to hear or see those tears that are shed or silent cries that are made during a heartfelt prayer. It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you see your loved one lying on that hospital bed.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you search and seek out answers to tel...
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
PRIESTHOOD: THE ANOINTED MINISTRY Exodus 40:12-16 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting... wash them with water. Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest (Exodus 40: 12-13). Priesthood among the people of God was a divine command and initiation. God wanted some people to be separated for the special ministry among his people. God appointed Aaron and his descendants to take up this kind of ministry among the people of God. Priests are always separated and appointed as channels that connect God with his people. All throughout the history of Israel, priests played an important role in connecting people with God and to lead and guide them in the statutes of God. But there are incidents in the Bible where the priests failed in their duties and that led the people to go away from God. So the priests have a special and significant ministry to perform in this world among his people. Two important things...
Read more