Monday, August 15, 2011

August 16, 2011

“The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden as its gardener, to tend and care for it. But the Lord God gave the man this warning; ‘You may eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil for its fruit will open your eyes to make you aware of right and wrong, good and bad. If you eat its fruit, you will be doomed to die.’” Genesis 2:15-17


God has always demanded honor. After all, He IS God, what else SHOULD He expect? And God interprets honor in terms of obedience. If you claim to honor God but do not obey Him, He is not honored.

God created Adam in order to enjoy fellowship with him and God was honored through being in perfect relationship with Adam. Adam was honored through being the crowning touch of God’s creation. God further honored Adam by creating a companion for him. Adam and Even were to honor each other and together they were to honor God. When they did, life was………well, perfect!

We can see that honor is the foundation upon which healthy relationships are built. Is it any wonder that the wedding vows include the promise to “love, honor, and obey”? Honor and obedience strengthens relationship. Failure to obey dishonors a partner and weakens the relationship.

You can trace all of the sin and shame that pollutes human nature to the moment when Adam & Even dishonored God by disobeying Him with the forbidden fruit. They were urged to do so by the Serpent, Satan, the master of dishonor. He convinced them that they could disobey God without dishonoring Him. They were wrong! Dead wrong.

The immediate result of Adam and Even dishonoring God was their sense of shame. That was evidenced when they hid from God and made coverings for themselves. And as their ancestors, we inherited their shame and disobedient nature.

Does obedience really matter? It does if you want to honor God! You cannot honor God while you are disobeying Him. That is a devil of an idea.

You were created to honor God through obedience. Shame on you if you don’t!

The Deal: God is not honored by your good intentions, He is honored by your obedience.