Nougat 12

Top of the week to ya

So one of HNM regular responders (Gmail version) invited me to reflect on the what ifs. They are important, but in relation to yesterday’s nougat, shifted focus from the concrete self-reflection to others. We are all beneficiaries of what ifs (eg what if Christ refused to accept death on the Cross?). As we consider today’s Holy Nougat, I urge us to stay a bit longer with our Whats.

“One day [the serpent] … asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not … ?” She saw … and she wanted … So she took … Then … her husband, who was with her, … ate it, too. The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:1, 6, 12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ (condensed)

I apologize for condensing the nougat, but I wished to provide a bit of context for the man’s response. In yesterday’s reflection, it was Adam (the man) who was with God and we infer that he alone received God’s warning about what to eat. I emphasize this as the next chapter shows Eve (the woman) being the one who was tempted initially.

But she was NOT alone! Verse 6 is very clear that her husband was with her. My first Why then is, “Why didn’t Adam remind/warn Eve to leave the fruit alone?” Did he forget that there was a death penalty attached to eating the forbidden fruit? As her husband, who had heard directly from God, should he have warned her again? Our likely responses are a) he probably did, but it was not recorded; or b) she was free to make her own decisions. However we answer from either of those gives room for further consideration.

So if we argue that Adam did warn Eve, we then have to accept that we add our own inferences to the Word, and examine what that means for our interpretation of the Word. And, if we determine that Adam felt Eve had the capacity to make her own decision; then we must then address yet another issue.

That is, the issue of blame. For, if Adam thought Eve had autonomy, then why did he justify his sin, his disobedience by pointing to Eve? And whether we had an opinion about Eve’s autonomy; that is the key point for us all. When we blunder, and we all do, we must take responsibility for our actions.

When we are given our What; we can’t afford to get distracted by the What ifs. For that which we are charge with by God’s Spirit is ours. And we are each held accountable for what was commended to us. So, we are appalled by the death of the prophet who was convinced by another prophet to disobey his divinely commissioned What (see 1 Kings 13). But he’d been warned. And ironically, that if he disobeyed God’s order to head straight home, he’d die. The lion did not stop to ask whether he’d been misled. He had no opportunity to defend his actions. The lion was awaiting him.

Siblings in Christ Jesus, we might not immediately die; we may not notice any dire consequences resulting from our bad choices; and it could be that we allowed ourselves to be influenced by another. But we must recognize that the choices we make are ours. Especially in regard to our God-given What.

And when we mess up, as we sometimes do, we can be honest enough to seek forgiveness from God. There might be consequences; but God’s grace can and will cover our nakedness. We have the autonomy to choose; but when the choice is outside God’s plan, we must take responsibility and not blame others.

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May all we seek be found in Christ