Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23. 34a
Dear family in the Lord!
At the beach in Spain, observing myself relaxing my regiment of strenuous exercise and disciplined meal sizes, it dawned on me: No Spain - no gain. Spain is my personal paradise on earth. And you can't exist in paradise without gaining something. Be it body fat pounds or the revelation that God is Good and man is not. Let's talk about two people who had everything they needed and experienced the pain of desiring to gain more.
The creation story in Genesis teaches us that God is a God of grandeur and simplicity. He created a marvelous world for His children to fruitfully live in with the need for just ONE RULE. Where in the Western World can you go (or travel) to today and find that you only need to abide by ONE RULE?
This one rule, to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, could be paraphrased by God saying, "You get to trust me completely." If Eve had trusted God completely she and Adam would have cast the snake out of the Garden before it could plant the seed of distrust in their hearts. "Did God really say...? Does God really mean it well with you...? Can't you see that God withholds the ability to be like him from you...?" But they chose to argue with the father of lies.
We know how the story unfolds. Eve believed the snake and desired to be like God, so they ate from the forbidden fruit. With that they gained the ability to know Good and and to know Evil. But God didn't want them to know Good and Evil. At least not at that time. He wanted them to grow up in a peaceful world full of providence where they could get to know Him better every day, experience His goodness and be grounded in a deep and unshakeable trust in Him. How could the history of the world have unfolded if they would have listened? How could our personal history unfold if we would abide by this one rule?
Within seconds of exposing their uncorrupted DNA to the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil, man was infested by the consequence of listening to a liar rather than trusting in their maker's one rule. Consequently man knew he was judged to death and hid from his creator, for he now knew first hand that they had chosen evil over good, separating them from their maker. I wonder: What would have happened if Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree and, rather than hiding from God's presence, had directed their remorse towards scandalous hope for mercy and shouted into God's face "FATHER, FORGIVE US! WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING!"
Jesus shouted on our behalf. While he hung and endured the death penalty for man, who, overcome by the terror of sin, ran away from God. Jesus, in unimaginable physical and spiritual agony because of being burdened with the sin of the world, directed his pain of being separated from God towards God and interceded for the ones that were killing him. He did what Adam and Eve failed to do, he directed the hope for mercy towards God. He could have hid, he had the authority to burn the whole place to ashes. No, Jesus did not back down. He died knowing that mankind was not capable to overcome their own corruption- but God was and He did. The terrible gap that man caused by choosing to distrust God was fixed by God Himself in Jesus.
The transition of man choosing evil to the topic of nutrition will not surprise you; as it is not new.
Thinking of the food industry in the Western World today I can't help but desire that mankind would be convicted of their evil. Just like Adam and Eve our society fell for the lies of the devil and built an empire upon it. "Paradise" in my analogy would be our ability to govern and have dominion over the creation. But somewhere between the distrust that the earth will naturally continue to produce sufficient food for us, and the greed of gaining riches by exploiting what is exploitable, we have been terribly corrupted. We ate the forbidden fruit of wanting to be like God.
Produce is genetically modified so it turns out bigger and more profitable. Livestock is exposed to growth hormones and treated like a mere profit production machine. The consumer lost touch with the reality of what it takes to produce the food and drink they have gotten used to. To find relief for our consequent aches and illnesses we turn to synthetic pills and put our hope for mercy into doctors.
We are stuck in a vicious circle. As long as we, the consumer, continue to literally pay homage to this industry, it will not stop. As long as we profit from this cycle by finding the price tags on our food to be to our liking, we say that we stand in agreement with it.
We can't change the way the whole world turns. But we can face God, if we are convicted, and ask Him to forgive us for we don't know what we are doing to His creation, including ourselves. Neither humanism, nor environmentalism, nor emancipation of the organic farmers, nor ethicists can take our guilt away or put an end to our problem. Our only hope is to direct our scandalous need for mercy towards God the Father rather than hiding in our evil system. Let's individually and corporately stand in front of Him and seek the way to live in this world and yet not be of this world. One practical way, is to continuously make small and improving changes in the foods we buy. Here is a new product for your consideration:
(....drumroll....)
The POWER FOOD "Sprouted Quinoa"!
(You'll find it in the Natural Section of Coborns and can use it instead of rice, cereal, pasta, etc.)
Sprouted Quinoa is the best option when it comes to grain products! You'll get a great serving of complete protein, B2 Vitamins for your brain and muscles, antioxidants to protect you from sickness, magnesium and iron to improve your blood health, and fiber which has been proven to bring your cholesterol levels in a stout balance.
With this I release you back into your day, praying that you wouldn't buy into the Devil' s accusation but desire to have God use you as part of His solution for breaking His one rule, to trust Him.
Be blessed abundantly!
No comments:
Post a Comment