A Fool in Paradise

Day 2 reading assignment:
Gen 3:1-4:26
Matt 2:13-3:6
Psalm 2:1-12
Proverbs 1:7-9

Squirrels are to me what the serpent in the garden was to Eve.  Talk about a woman who had it all!  God told them it was all theirs.  Everything!  Just stay away from the fruit of one (I started to write "measely" but that seemed disrespectful) tree.  Have your fill of everything here but 'no no no don't touch that!'  What does she do?  Loses sight  of ALL that she has and obsesses over the one thing she cannot have.  A few slimy lies from a snake and poof! there goes her contentment.
Snakes assignment complete: Joy robbed.

We live in a society that goes to great lengths to condition us to think life is all about our comfort, our pleasure and our immediate gratification.  We are convinced it really is all about us.  So many people walk around in a constant state of depression, discouragement, disillusionment.  The list goes on. People are exhausted from working their fannies off in order to achieve the next big thing only to switch on the technical device of choice to discover there is a bigger, better, upgraded form out today that renders yesterday's purchase obsolete.  I'm fairly sure there is a contented gerbil spinning on his wheel out there laughing his head off at us humans running in circles chasing our imaginary tails.  "WAH! I want a bigger house. WAH! I want a newer car. WAH WAH! My butt looks big in these pants-I need magic pants but first please pass me that last piece of bruschetta.

God must feel like the parent of the greedy kid who opens the last of an obscene amount of birthday gifts only to say; 'is that all there is?'
"Hey Eve! FYI: To be tempted is not a sin, to give in to it is."  The first blessing lost was contentment, aka:joy.  What a price to pay.
Oh yeah and Eve?  Thanks for being the first one to set a BAD example.  Nice legacy to pass down to the rest of us!

The definition of contentment is wanting what we have.  To be content we must choose to be content and act accordingly.  Eve made it harder but not impossible.


"Image building is the attempt to make impressions that are bigger than we are."
                                                                                                          -unknown-