Читать книгу What Everyone Needs to Know Before They Grow Up! - Eddie Boone's Phillips - Страница 4

In the beginning of time, God created the heavens and the earth. Obviously, that included a whole lot of stuff. I mean, we’re talking about the sun, the moon, and all the stars up above, along with the oceans, mountains, plains, and every other physical feature of our planet. Think of it as over a gazillion square miles of real estate suspended in space.

Now you would think that the Creator of the universe would be exhausted after doing all that. But no-o-o-o! He was only getting started. Before long, the Lord had also made every kind of plant and animal that inhabited the world at that time. If you could see it, hear it, smell it, touch it, eat it, or it eat you, then the Almighty God spoke it into existence during the first six days of the creation week.

But hang on, there’s more. When our Heavenly Father was finished, He set everything in motion so that all He had made would be subject to His laws of nature. Quicker than the blink of an eye, the entire cosmos was running like a finely tuned engine. It was absolutely amazing, and the Lord did it all. He designed it, He built it, and He wrote the operating instructions.

At the end of the sixth day of creation, God looked around and saw that everything He had done was good. The Lord was just about to kick back and take the next day off when He remembered He wanted someone to keep an eye on His creation and make sure that it would remain in good working order. So, the very last thing God made was man, a special creature formed in His own image for just that purpose. After that He was satisfied and took a break on the seventh day.

As you probably know, the first man’s name was Adam. But did you know that he was made out of a pile of dirt? Well, it’s true. Of course, that probably comes as no surprise to most women. After all, guys and dirt kind of go hand in hand. Nevertheless, our Heavenly Father shaped Adam from the dust of the earth and then breathed life into his body. Shortly thereafter, God made the man a home in a place called the Garden of Eden.

Adam’s job was to watch over the animals and take care of the crops and fruit trees that the Lord had planted in the garden. In addition, he was responsible for naming all the beasts of the field that roamed the earth in those days. Sometimes that could be very dangerous…

OK…where was I? Oh yeah, the Garden of Eden. The weather there was always perfect — no need for clothes or shelter to keep warm. Also, there were all kinds of fruits, nuts and veggies to eat. Adam didn’t need to truck it down to McDonald’s or Burger King when he got hungry. No way! All he had to do was pick something off a tree or vine. And the garden had four rivers that were perfect for fishing and swimming. What a life! You might say Adam had it made in the shade.

But even though he had free rein of the Garden of Eden, there was one very important rule that Adam had to obey. In the center of the garden there was a tree that was strictly off limits. It was called the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. God told Adam that he was not to touch or eat the fruit from that tree. If he did, the Lord warned him that he would surely die. Well, I don’t know about you, but that would be enough for me to scratch that item off my grocery list, along with sardines, turnip greens and other foods not fit for human consumption.

Anyway, with the easy life he had, you would think Adam would be happy. But that was not the case. Sure, eating all day, playing with the animals and skinny dipping in the river was fun, but something was still not right. Because there were no other people to talk to, the poor guy was lonely. I can understand that — have you ever tried to carry on a meaningful conversation with a duckbill platypus? Trust me, it ain’t gonna happen.

Luckily for Adam, it didn’t take God long to see there was a problem. He realized how boring it must have been with nobody else around. So the Lord felt sorry for Adam and decided to give him a companion and a helper, someone to keep him company and to share his life. And that, my friend, was how woman came to be.

Actually, it’s kind of neat how the Lord made the first female of the species. Man was made from the dust of the earth, but she was created in a completely different way. God made Adam fall into a deep sleep, and while he was zonked out the Almighty took a rib from his side. You could say it was the very first order of “spare rib” ever served (sorry about that!). Anyway, God used that part of the man’s body to make a woman, and Adam called her Eve.

As you can imagine, Adam was thrilled with the sudden turn of events. He now had a friend, a wife and a soul mate. He was happy. They were happy. Life was good in the neighborhood. However, things were about to change in a big way, and neither one of them had a clue what was about to happen.

One day, when Eve was hanging out in the garden, Satan came to her disguised as a serpent. As you know, Satan (a.k.a. the Devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, and the Prince of Darkness) is God’s worst enemy. Believe me, he is one evil, creepy dude! Like God, the Devil has supernatural powers that he uses to hurt people and trick them into disobeying the Lord. His ultimate goal is to keep as many of us as possible from going to heaven when we die.

Now, Eve knew that God had warned her and Adam not to touch or eat the fruit from the forbidden tree. But Satan was a sneaky snake. He knew the tree’s fruit looked so good and tasty, and that it would be hard for Eve not to want to take a bite. So he twisted the Lord’s words around to convince her that if she ate the fruit she would not die, and also that she would become as wise as God.

Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened next. The temptation was too great and she took a bite of the fruit, and then she persuaded Adam to do the same. And at that moment, sin entered the world for the very first time.

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever had an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you knew you had really messed up? Guess what! Adam and Eve had that same sensation the minute they ate the fruit. They knew they had blown it big time. Both of them were so ashamed that they had disobeyed the Lord, and they were scared of what He might do to them. So, they covered their nakedness with fig leaves, and then hid under a tree. Can you believe it? How lame can you get! They should have known you can’t hide from God.

Needless to say, it didn’t take the Lord long to find the guilty pair. He asked them why they were hiding and they quickly confessed what they had done. There was nothing left for them to do but face their punishment.

Because Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, the world changed forever. The Lord still loved them, but they had to pay for their sins. As a result, they were banished from the Garden of Eden, never to return. God made them clothes of animal skins and then sent them on their way. From that day forward, they were forced to hunt and farm the land for their food. Even worse, the Lord’s warning came true. Because Adam and Eve had broken His rules, they would have to experience thirst and hunger, pain and sorrow, and sickness and death for the first time in their lives.

Alright, by now you’re probably wondering what this story has to do with us today. Well, you see, we live in a world that has a lot of laws and rules. Some would say we have too many of them, but they have been put in place for our own good.

Think about it. What if we lived in a world with no rules at all, and people could do whatever they pleased with no consequences for bad behavior. Criminals would run wild because there would be no laws for police officers to enforce. Also, if there were no traffic lights or street signs, how would we keep from wrecking our cars on the highway? What about sports? How would we make sure the other team plays fairly without rules of the game? Most importantly, if our parents didn’t have rules for us to obey, how would we learn how to grow up to be good citizens and responsible adults? So as you can see, we need rules in our daily lives to make sure all of us do the right thing, and to provide everyone a safe and orderly society in which to live.

In the same way, God has laws and commandments that he expects us to follow. These rules are found in the Bible. He did not give His commandments to be mean, or to keep us from having fun and doing whatever we want to do. No, that’s not it at all. Our Heavenly Father loves us, and His laws have been given to help us stay out of trouble and to have a better chance to live peaceful and happy lives.

If God could create the universe in six days, then no doubt He is smart enough and wise enough to know what’s best for us. That’s hard for people to understand sometimes, but it’s true. If we disobey the Lord’s commandments, sooner or later bad things will happen and we will suffer shame and hardship just like Adam and Eve.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

GOD’S RULES RULE!

THOSE WHO SIN NOW WILL PAY LATER.

IF YOU FALL FOR THE LIES OF A SNAKE, CHANCES ARE YOU’LL BE HISS-TORY!