Hey GBC family,
Just thought I'd post a thought from a devotional this morning. It comes from Genesis 3 where Eve says "We cannot eat of the tree, neither can we touch it or we will die."
An interesting thing to note is that God never told Adam that he could not touch the fruit. Several things that are significant. In this passage we see our tendency to err on the side of either legalism or grace. This happens when we ADD to the Word or TAKE AWAY from it.
God said, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Eve ADDED, "neither shall we touch it". This is legalism that we tend to pull toward. We always put more restrictions on ourselves than God puts on us. That makes us judgmental.
Eve TOOK AWAY the word "Surely". This is erring on the side of grace. Satan took advantage of this by telling her, "you will not SURELY die". Many Christians do this by taking away the severity of sin and they become loose in their lifestyle thinking that God will overlook sin and they will not "Surely" have to pay for it.
The perfect balance it knowing the freedom God gives us to live and love life and also the severity of sin if we choose to disobey. :)
Another cool thing is in revelations 22, it talks of the restoration of Eden and at the end Jesus gives a warning,
"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone ADDS anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone TAKES WORDS AWAY from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll."
It's almost as if Jesus is saying, "Let's not repeat the mistake that got us into this mess in the beginning".
This is one of the coolest insights I've gotten from that passage and just wanted to share it! :) Our Church name is fitting. Lets strive to live the balance of Grace and Bible.
Love you guys
Jonavan
