Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, September 8, 2024
by Pr. Sara Gorman, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Our actions have consequences that we don’t always like.
I don’t know how many times I’ve reminded my almost two-year-old that what he is doing with his body maybe isn’t the safest of activities. And nearly every time he falls or hits his head, he is reminded of the consequence by the tears that pour from his eyes and the bump, bruise, or scratch that is left upon his body. Sure, he was having fun in the moment climbing and running all over everything in the living room. But with actions come consequences, some of which we don’t see coming, or like at all.
Our reading for today is a look at one of the first actions that had a negative consequence in the Bible. The serpent convinced the woman that God really wasn’t going to hold to God’s promise, even though, that is what Adam was told by God. The woman and the serpent didn’t like the sound of what might happen if they went against God’s instruction.
Was the serpent there when Adam was told not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Probably not. Did the serpent hear what God told Adam, who then passed the message onto Eve? Again, probably not. But yet, the serpent convinces Eve of a different narrative than the one she’s been told. A narrative where she is loved so deeply that God really wouldn’t keep God’s promised negative consequence. But all throughout the Bible we see all the ways in which God keeps God’s promises.
This mistake is often placed entirely on Eve, when in fact Adam ate of the fruit too. And as a result of both of them eating, they both have to face the consequence—knowing there is something not right about what they are seeing when they look at their bodies. How different would the world we live in be if the serpent had not been so convincing?
Would there still be sin? I’m sure of it. If this serpent didn’t succeed another one days, months, or years later likely would have, and we would still be living with those consequences. When we do something against or in spite of our better judgment we are reminded that every action has some kind of consequence.
