This week we consider the consequence of the choice we make and take an honest reflection on some of the things we may not have done right. We look back at the cost and look forward, with hope, to the future.
There was once a local church vicar who took his dog for a walk every day around his local area. On one of his walks, he passed a person toiling with weeds in his garden. Listening carefully, he heard the gardener muttering to himself, “If I were them, I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have done it.” This caught his interest, so he stopped by and asked the gardener what he meant. “Well, if it weren’t for them eating that fruit, I wouldn’t have to sort these weeds out”, said the gardener. “I’d love to talk about this further”, said the vicar. “Why don’t you come tomorrow for tea?”
The next day, the gardener arrived at the vicarage to see a lovely tea spread out on the table, with a silver cover over the central plate. The guest asked what was under it, but the vicar suggested they wait for it to be revealed. At that moment, the vicar was called out of the room. In his impatience, the gardener chose to lift the lid to peek underneath. The moment he did, a slight breeze caught the feathers that were under the cover, which then proceeded to cover the rest of the lovely spread.
The moral of the story – we can easily spot the mistakes of others, but do we realise that we are all guilty of choices that we may regret in our future.
Adam and Eve lived in paradise. The Garden of Eden experience paints us a picture of God’s perfect creation, without sin, death, sickness, suffering, pain. Adam and Eve experienced a closeness of relationship with God that we can only imagine. It says in Genesis 3:8, “The man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day”. Imagine walking with God; to know that level of intimacy.
But it goes on to say, “…and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Their choice separated them from God. The consequence of their sin was that they lost the close relationship and the joy of paradise.
What would you give for a closer relationship with God? As we think about Christmas, we remember that Jesus came to reconnect us with God. As you reflect on the choices you make that separate, take time to reconnect today.
