Daily Devotions
Forgetting God's Good Gifts
Title: Forgetting God's Good Gifts
Reading for January 1: Genesis 1-4
And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
Genesis 2:9
Often times our sin stems from the fact that we've forgotten the good gifts God has given us. Like spoiled children, we feel we have been monumentally deprived because all we are able to see is what we don't have. Or, when one little rose in our bed of roses is crumpled, we act like it's the end of the world.
An illustration of this is found in Genesis 3 when the serpent tempts Eve with the forbidden fruit. She's living in a literal garden paradise. Life for mankind has never been as good as it was for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (and the word Eden means "delight"). But what does Eve see? She sees the one thing God told her she couldn't have. It's all she can think about. And, in spite of the fact that she knows what God said the consequences would be, she eats from that tree anyway.
It's interesting to me that it says in Genesis 3:6 she saw the tree was "good for food" and it was a "delight to the eyes." That's the way every tree in the garden was described in Genesis 2:9. "Pleasant to the sight" and "good for food." Funny, isn't it?
But isn't that the way sin is? It's not that God has deprived us of good things. In fact, the blessings God has given us are far better than the enticements the devil offers. It just seems to be our nature to always want what we can't have.
Father, you are the giver of all good and perfect gifts. Give us grateful hearts that will find contentment and pleasure in the good things you give us.
