March 24th 2019
Are You Sad Because Rose Bushes Have Thorns, Or Are You Happy Because Thorn Bushes Have Roses?
Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV)
To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Life offers us all the opportunity to exist in this cursed world. We are not all the same and our opportunities are not all the same. Some people are born into this world with some form of a handicap, and that does not seem fair! However, some who start out with less than perfection excel despite their limitations. Some of us start out without pronounced limitations, but through no fault of their own, they develop some form of a limitation! Most of us live our lifetime without any extreme physical or mental limitations! Yet, many who are almost whole find fault with what faculties they have and complain about being limited in some ways. However, some who have less than perfect conditions, excel beyond belief. So, what is the difference in the results of their life? I believe it comes down to perspective! “You get what you expect” is an adage that comes to mind here! What about you, “are YOU sad because rose bushes have thorns?” Or, are YOU, “happy because thorn bushes have roses?”
Paul wrote about a thorn in his flesh that the Lord had given him. Paul asked the Lord to remove it, but He denied Paul’s request. Then Paul realized this was not a curse, but somehow it was a blessing, as it reminded him to depend upon the Lord for his strength, and not to rely on his own strength, so Paul accepted it as a plus not a negative for him! To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). So, Paul is glad despite his painful thorn, because he is reminded to depend on the Lord for his strength instead of depending on his own strength, as Paul wrote, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
In the selected verses we read about the beginning of thorns as part of the punishment God leveled on mankind, because of the sin Adam and Eve committed by disobeying God’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Since God could no longer live with Adam and Eve, because they were now sinful beings, God had to banish them from the Garden of Eden.
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Genesis 3:22-23). Before that first sin Adam and Eve only knew about being good, so they did not know about evil, but eating the forbidden fruit, they gained the knowledge of evil. They became aware of their nudity, and it caused them to want to cover themselves. Then God killed animals to obtain their skins to give Adam and Eve clothing. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21). This was the first death that Adam and Eve witnessed!
Now let’s come back to the present time and for us to think good thoughts about this Lenten season. We are again concentrating the fact that Jesus Christ was sent into this sin filled world to allow God to set us free from this original sin, and yet while we are still sinners at heart, Jesus was sent into this world to set free everyone who would choose to become His disciples. This plan was kicked off by the birth of Jesus as the man/God, who would supply the perfect sacrifice needed to allow God to overlook mankind’s attainment of evil from that first sin. And now, we are counting the days until we will again celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead as the first proof of the immortality God had placed in every member of mankind at conception. Paul wrote about this perfect timing of God for us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6). Jesus Christ died for (YOUR) our sins in our place to allow us to go back to that sinless place called the Garden of Eden, where God still is available to all sinless members of mankind. If you accept this pardon from God, you will be saved and once again commence living with the Lamb of God!
Jesus promised His followers some wonderful things! "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6). Did that offer sink in with you, when you die to this life, Jesus is going to come back to take you to where He is! And your immortal soul will reside there forever with Jesus!
He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20).
Let’s end this commentary with a verse of a song, I’ve always liked called, “Standing on the Promises.”
Standing on the promises, I cannot fall. Listening every moment to the Spirit's call. Resting in my Savior as my all in all. Standing on the promises of God.
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Genesis 3:17-19 (NIV)
To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Life offers us all the opportunity to exist in this cursed world. We are not all the same and our opportunities are not all the same. Some people are born into this world with some form of a handicap, and that does not seem fair! However, some who start out with less than perfection excel despite their limitations. Some of us start out without pronounced limitations, but through no fault of their own, they develop some form of a limitation! Most of us live our lifetime without any extreme physical or mental limitations! Yet, many who are almost whole find fault with what faculties they have and complain about being limited in some ways. However, some who have less than perfect conditions, excel beyond belief. So, what is the difference in the results of their life? I believe it comes down to perspective! “You get what you expect” is an adage that comes to mind here! What about you, “are YOU sad because rose bushes have thorns?” Or, are YOU, “happy because thorn bushes have roses?”
Paul wrote about a thorn in his flesh that the Lord had given him. Paul asked the Lord to remove it, but He denied Paul’s request. Then Paul realized this was not a curse, but somehow it was a blessing, as it reminded him to depend upon the Lord for his strength, and not to rely on his own strength, so Paul accepted it as a plus not a negative for him! To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). So, Paul is glad despite his painful thorn, because he is reminded to depend on the Lord for his strength instead of depending on his own strength, as Paul wrote, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
In the selected verses we read about the beginning of thorns as part of the punishment God leveled on mankind, because of the sin Adam and Eve committed by disobeying God’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Since God could no longer live with Adam and Eve, because they were now sinful beings, God had to banish them from the Garden of Eden.
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Genesis 3:22-23). Before that first sin Adam and Eve only knew about being good, so they did not know about evil, but eating the forbidden fruit, they gained the knowledge of evil. They became aware of their nudity, and it caused them to want to cover themselves. Then God killed animals to obtain their skins to give Adam and Eve clothing. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21). This was the first death that Adam and Eve witnessed!
Now let’s come back to the present time and for us to think good thoughts about this Lenten season. We are again concentrating the fact that Jesus Christ was sent into this sin filled world to allow God to set us free from this original sin, and yet while we are still sinners at heart, Jesus was sent into this world to set free everyone who would choose to become His disciples. This plan was kicked off by the birth of Jesus as the man/God, who would supply the perfect sacrifice needed to allow God to overlook mankind’s attainment of evil from that first sin. And now, we are counting the days until we will again celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead as the first proof of the immortality God had placed in every member of mankind at conception. Paul wrote about this perfect timing of God for us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6). Jesus Christ died for (YOUR) our sins in our place to allow us to go back to that sinless place called the Garden of Eden, where God still is available to all sinless members of mankind. If you accept this pardon from God, you will be saved and once again commence living with the Lamb of God!
Jesus promised His followers some wonderful things! "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:1-6). Did that offer sink in with you, when you die to this life, Jesus is going to come back to take you to where He is! And your immortal soul will reside there forever with Jesus!
He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20).
Let’s end this commentary with a verse of a song, I’ve always liked called, “Standing on the Promises.”
Standing on the promises, I cannot fall. Listening every moment to the Spirit's call. Resting in my Savior as my all in all. Standing on the promises of God.
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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