Fig Leaves

I am not even sure I even  know what a fig tree looks like or how big the leaves are but they must be on some size and stature as the go to covering for Adam and Eve.  We were in Austin this week and attended our Austin church, Austin Ridge, where Brad Thomas gave a wonderful bottom shelf account of Genesis 3, The Fall.   This is not going to be a sermon just a couple of food for thought suggestions that he made that still are nestled in my thoughts.

Just a quick review of the story: Adam and Eve were easing around the garden of Eden, no boundaries, no schedules, no have to obligations or responsibilities but there was one just one small requirement that God had given them: don't eat off of a certain tree. Oh but there was a snake lurking on their path and this was a talking snake, you know God can make anything happen, and the snake began asking questions that would entice and carefully ease over and rationalize that the one the thing that God had told them not to do was really not a big deal at all. Seriously if only Eve would have stuck to what she knew as truth and not engage in a conversation with a snake, or if Adam would have held his ground as his appropriated position by God to obey him and act like a leader and not a woos, we all would be worry free and doing the right thing.  But nooooo.    You, of course know the end of the story. They eat, they see, they run, they cover and they hide (or so they think). You know God does see through the trees.  

But the one thing that got me was his explanation of the fig leaves. Once they ate the fruit they felt exposed, and the cover up was an immediate response.  Cover up, what is it that you and I are covering up and don't want God to see.  Are we running from God or running to God with all the things that make us vulnerable.  You know your deals, I know mine....but when we really look a little deeper into whatever it is that is testing our compliance with God and his standards, it does come back to the same misconceptions that the snake was touting: we doubt God's goodness, don't focus on what we have, instead focus on what we don't have, and lastly he basically encouraged her to not to be like God but to be her own god.  It all comes down to who is really running the show.  Is it God or do we think we are in much more capable hands when we try to make decisions of our own without consulting God, who know all, sees all and is all.  

Go for the fruit of the coveted tree, 

and we will see;

it is not the fruit that will set us free, 

but only our remorse on a bended knee.    

Those two covered themselves with sewn together fig leaves...what is it that you and I are hiding behind and covered up with.  Are we running to God with our worries and our fears and insecurities, or are we running away from God thinking that we can handle any of the eye opening problems, heartaches, world trappings, and snake induced temptations that are crying out for attention and resolve. The deal is the serpent never has anything to offer us that God has not already provided us with in abundance. When God, in clarity, states  restrictions,  they are they to protect us not to keep us from enjoying genuine freedom in life that is filled with His riches that include His peace and His joy. 

 

It is said that all sin is birthed in pride....look at that snake... it is all about pride, wanting to be the powerhouse over God. When we try to hide and cover up our heart issues or worldly concerns that are in our plain sight, and take on life on our own,  we are not giving God the chance to shoot his arrows of grace upon them.

 When we run to God with our concerns and heartaches, that is where we gain our release from our imprisoned holdings and God secures our peace.  Fig leaves may be a good visual deterrent and hide some what is really gripping our attention but none of us can hide anything from God, no matter how ingenious or creative we think we might be.  It is when we run towards God and to God with all our frailties that he gathers us up in his arms and reminds us of his watch over us, His everlasting love upon us and His presence within us and about us.

  

How blessed we are to have our God who reigns, in spite of circumstances and who sits upon His throne in control of all things at all times.  

Dear Lord, Help me to turn from the snake of doubt, malicious intent and forthcoming lies and run to you.  May I stand on your truth,

be guided by your wisdom, be comforted by your word and motivated by your love.  Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!