Hey what’s an apple? It’s just a small piece of fruit. How big and bad could it be, right? It’s not like the end of the world would happen if we took a little bite. Well if we have read the Bible story of Adam in the garden we all know how that ended.
Genesis 2:16 (MSG)
God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”
Romans 5:12 (MSG)
You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in—first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it.
It’s the little things that sometimes end up being the biggest things. That’s true in every relationship. Most relationships begin with the smallest gesture and can end as easily with the smallest argument or tiff.
Back to the apple. I am sure Adam and Eve had no idea that by that simple act of disobedience that death would come to an entire world. After all it was just an apple. I mean maybe a little scolding, a little I told you not to and surely that would be the biggest consequence.
Our lives today are in a lot of ways the same as Adam and Eve’s lives were in the Garden of Eden. God is still speaking to us and giving us instructions to live by. Of course we have His Word that is full of His loving commandments. We all know when we read not to lie, kill or commit adultery that those are true, just and we need to obey them. However, God also is speaking through His Holy Spirit to us and giving us His Personal guidance. Like at times when we have that inner knowing that we should not take a certain job, or we should not move here or there. It could also be as simple as a nudge that we should not eat that second piece of apple pie we are craving so badly.
Sounds simple enough to follow but sometimes we just think, what’s the big deal? It’s not like death is going to come into the world. Sometimes it’s those simple little instructions we choose to not listen to or not to follow that, in fact, bring the consequences we are least prepared for.
Maybe a little argument starts with a spouse, friend, girlfriend or someone else. We hear God speaking in our heart not to say anything else. However, we just can’t help but get that last word in. That last word can become the beginning of the end.
It’s sometimes the littlest things that get us in the most trouble. So we all have to be sensitive to God speaking to our hearts and of course we first start with God’s Word. What does the Word say about this subject or that. We always follow the Word’s instructions. However, after reading His Word we need to listen for His inner voice of guidance, the Holy Spirit, which will never contradict with His written Word.
Jesus said My sheep will know My voice and follow Me. So we need to listen when the Holy Spirit is speaking. It’s that still small voice, agreeing with God’s word that guides us even in the small things of life. Jesus said the road to righteousness is a narrow road so we will need His guidance to stay on it.
What has God been telling us? Are we being obedient to His leading? Today is no different for us than Adam’s day was for him back in the Garden of Eden. We still have to make a choice today to follow in obedience or see our personal world crumble around us. Our marriage, our relationships and our influence with others are all dependent on our daily decisions.
Apostle Paul said that by the obedience of one, Jesus, came the gift of righteousness. As we accept that free gift of righteousness, by inviting Jesus into our lives, we are free to make the right choices. It’s up to us every day, we decide our world’s future!