To the Promise

"If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return." Hebrews 11:15

Oh this is such a great verse. It feels like an odd thing to say, as do many parts of Scripture, although admittedly more odd plucked out of context like I have done here. This part of Hebrews is showing the faith of those that have come before and how their faith had not been disappointed. It was faith in a promise. A promise they did not receive in their lifetime because it was yet to come. And yet, it was not disappointed.

It was a faith longing for something better, perfect. A place to call home and dwell in perfect security, in love and without fear.

This world does not contain that place. We're post-Jesus so we arguably have more resources at our disposal than those counted in this chapter and yet, does it make us less likely to think of the country we had left? 

I'm so prone to seeing the trees instead of the forest. I have really no hesitation believing everything will be ok in the end. My doubt emerges in so often having great concern with the path to get there. I so easily doubt the Creators love, over dumbs things, you see. I'm like a child who's riding a 7-second emotion-span.

When in faith we committed our lives to the Lord and asked Jesus to come in, we left everything behind- the "country [we] had left." We left it all at His feet and He nailed the bad parts to the cross. But we left it all, even the parts we might consider good. We submitted and have committed our lives to continually, each day, each moment, submit to His authority and plan. Submit to His deep love for us and in the submission find vulnerability as strength. You see, that vulnerability whether is our lack of control of this world or occasionally of a realization of just how mighty and powerful God is, can often, in human fear, give us opportunity to return from the country [we] had left." We're afraid and we turn back to old habits that we know; we turn back to what we think makes us happy; we turn back to seemingly safe things.

Nothing is safe outside of God. Nothing is eternal or worthwhile. He's very clear in scripture that our earthly lives will not look like what we think and there may be great heartache. But to turn back would be a mistake. We must in faith look ahead to His promises. We must live in assurance of a loving, faithful God and that He, in His infinite wisdom is the sovereign, almighty God we need Him to be.

In the Garden Again

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened..." Genesis 3:1-7a

We read the Creation Story, the Fall and other parts of the Bible and we too often miss their significance and reality in our lives. They're nice stories but did they really happen? How could anyone talk to a snake, much less think it's totally normal and then eat some fruit and plunge all of humanity into eternal damnation. Wow. 

Here's the truth- the Bible is a set of writings composed over a few thousand years that lets us know God intimately- His creation, His plans for us, His covenants with us, His path for it all, His authority.

When Satan (the serpent) approached Eve he posed a question he knew to be untrue. She answered with an untrue answer (God didn't say anything about touching the trees). She was drawn to the excitement, the power, the desire. She let her emotions take over. She let the lies in and ahead of the big picture. Her life was so good. She had more than she could ever want. She risked everything to do something she knew factually was wrong and didn't know absolutely anything about what would happen.

Robert Jamieson in his commentary puts it so well, "Her imagination and feelings were completely won; and the fall of Eve was soon followed by that of Adam. The history of every temptation, and of every sin, is the same; the outward object of attraction, the inward commotion of mind, the increase and triumph of passionate desire; ending in the degradation, slavery, and ruin of the soul."

And yet I keep finding myself back in the garden. Back at the beginning, caught up in the desire, curious, thoughts clouded, terrible foresight and swept away. I do it over and over again. In the moment we're such poor decision-makers and afterward, if we're truly fortunate, we have a great God that let's us see things clearly, and with great remorse (hopefully) and repentance we are able to seek and be granted forgiveness from such an awesome God.

I'll sadly be back in that spot a million more times in my life. I'd like to think I'm better than that but having lived 34 years I know better. I'm so prone to selfishness, so prone to fear. I'm doomed and unable to save myself, truly. Perhaps some of the degradation and slavery will help me some- to be better and do better. But the great news is, God saved me while I was still a sinner (Rom 5:8). He didn't save me after I started doing some good or after I got a job and made something of myself. He didn't save me because my good outweighed my bad (no one's ever will). He saved me while I was contemplating the consequences and reaching for that fruit tree. He saved me when while I was eating in temporary, blissful delight. Because nothing...will be able to separate us from the love of God...(Rom 8:35-39). So all the sin does is make my life on this earth ruined. What a waste. God give us eyes to see.