Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Hagridden
Eve ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam did too. Creation fell and everything that has happened since has carried the shadow of this action.
Why is knowing good and evil a problem? I've wondered about this for a long time. We have to know the difference in order to guide our lives.
Or do we? Could it be that by trying to figure out and keep track of the difference we wear ourselves into an early grave? Maybe we tie ourselves into knots by working at this subtle guidance. It's easy to argue and get confused.
What's certain is that I'm no good at it. Well, sort of. I can see the boulders, but the sand and dust get by, and life becomes very gritty.
So, what can I do? Turn the whole mess over to God. Let Him use His discernment. Maybe this is the way Eve and Adam lived in the garden: if they approached wrong, the Holy Spirit would give them a twitch.
He has certainly given me twitches. The problem is that most of the time life goes on and there's no discernible twitch of guidance. This might mean that I'm completely insensitive, and that's my guess. But the other day I got a radical idea: maybe the lack of a twinge of wrongness means I'm doing OK. No judgment. Not arrived, but on the path.
Can I really trust God to do this? Is it not something that is really up to me? I truly don't know. I don't know where the limit is in what God will do in my life. I know that getting up in the morning and getting to work is my responsibility, but what else? There's a large grey area.
The only way I know of to find out is the scientific method: try it and see what blows up. If I get conviction on not doing something, then that pretty well means it's my responsibility. I think.
Could it be there is a far wider range of freedom for a follower of Jesus than we're usually led to believe? If this is true, if God really will help me stay away from evil, life would be a lot better. There are so many things I don't know. I'm very, very glad that God is a good and patient teacher.
Why is knowing good and evil a problem? I've wondered about this for a long time. We have to know the difference in order to guide our lives.
Or do we? Could it be that by trying to figure out and keep track of the difference we wear ourselves into an early grave? Maybe we tie ourselves into knots by working at this subtle guidance. It's easy to argue and get confused.
What's certain is that I'm no good at it. Well, sort of. I can see the boulders, but the sand and dust get by, and life becomes very gritty.
So, what can I do? Turn the whole mess over to God. Let Him use His discernment. Maybe this is the way Eve and Adam lived in the garden: if they approached wrong, the Holy Spirit would give them a twitch.
He has certainly given me twitches. The problem is that most of the time life goes on and there's no discernible twitch of guidance. This might mean that I'm completely insensitive, and that's my guess. But the other day I got a radical idea: maybe the lack of a twinge of wrongness means I'm doing OK. No judgment. Not arrived, but on the path.
Can I really trust God to do this? Is it not something that is really up to me? I truly don't know. I don't know where the limit is in what God will do in my life. I know that getting up in the morning and getting to work is my responsibility, but what else? There's a large grey area.
The only way I know of to find out is the scientific method: try it and see what blows up. If I get conviction on not doing something, then that pretty well means it's my responsibility. I think.
Could it be there is a far wider range of freedom for a follower of Jesus than we're usually led to believe? If this is true, if God really will help me stay away from evil, life would be a lot better. There are so many things I don't know. I'm very, very glad that God is a good and patient teacher.
# posted by Larry @ 10:11 
