The More Things Change...

There's an old song that has a chorus that goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." That would be true of Genesis chapters one thru three.

Here we have the creation of all things. And all things are good. I mean reall good. I'm talkin' about perfect good. So good that God said it was good. Now when God calls somethin' good...it's good, with a captial "G".

Now let's fast forward thousands of years. Here we are in 2007. It doens't take a genius to know that we have come a loooong way from the garden. We don't wear fig leaves for clothes any longer, and we don't have to go out and personally slaugther our animals for clothes. We just go down to the local Wal-mart.

We have technology that just 20 or 30 years ago seemed like something out of Star Trek. Every time I flip open my cell phone I have this urge to say "Beam me up Scotty".

We can fly to the moon, and take a shuttle up in space again and again and again, as well as live in a space station.

Yes, we've come a long way from the garden.

Yet, the more things change....the more they stay the same.

In Genesis 2:7 we read how the Lord breathed life into man, and he became a living being. God is still doing that today. He found me, dead in my sins, and breathed life into me. He breathes life into dead marriages, dead families, dead relationships, and brings them all to life. And what a life it is!

In Genesis 3:1-4, we find the devil (not the dude with the red suit and the pitchfork, but the real deal, the fallen archangel Lucifer) lying to Eve. Telling her that God did not say what he really said. Trying to convince her that God was the one decieving her. The devil still does that to people today. He tries to get us to believe that God wants to ruin our fun, that God is dull, boring and only for old men and old women. He wants to convince you and me that if you really want a good time, he's the one to hook up with, not God. And like Eve, people still believe his lies.

My favorite thing in Genesis that has not changed is found in Genesis 3:9 where it says, "But the Lord god called to the man, "Where are you?"

Ahhh, I love that.

Because after accepting the Lord as my savior when I was only ten years old, I walked away from the life He gave me. Slow steps. Small steps. But steps away just the same. It started when I was about 15...it took full bloom around the age of 20....and it nearly destroyed me by the time I was 27.

But then, I heard the voice. That voice that called out to me, "Dave, where are you?"

You see, the Lord is still calling out to people today. To those who have known Him and walked away, He calls. To those who are seeking the truth and believe that the truth can be found somewhere else, He calls. To those who have gone as far as you can think a person can go, He calls.

Listen for Him today.

In His service,

Pastor Dave