I have written before about the ebb and flow of life. Today I am thinking about ebb and flow but not generally speaking of it in relation to life but more specifically in relation to how people interact with others today. The ebb and flow of past generations allowed for people to exchange different ideas and to do so in an attempt to persuade another as to their position. Now what happened quite often was that both would walk away with a different perspective than before. That is probably what provided for many of the things that were accomplished that aided man and society.
Using the ebb and flow analogy you need to understand that the Merriman-Webster Dictionary defines it as “describing something that changes in a regular and repeated way”. So when we consider the phrase it does not appear to or have the attributes of a chaotic event. Rather it is what are the natural expectations of how things might go.
With that understood, now consider where we are today. For some there is no chance they are going to consider any other possibility other than what they have come to believe is right. I have listened, read and considered the alternatives to what I believe and know to be the right. I have considered the alternatives and researched the devastating effects that certain decisions have brought about to other places. In doing so I have to ask why?
As much as we might want to hear that there is only one answer, that just isn't the case. There are many reasons why people do what they do, believe what they believe, and act the way they act. It is always a personal decision that a person makes. We all make them and we do so daily. It is just like taking a breath and exhaling. We do it because that is how we are built. God built us this way and the results could have been different but in the garden Eve and Adam destined mankind's future. They didn't know it at the time but the decision to disobey God spiraled this whole creation into sin and the unfortunate consequences it brings. Yes, God had told them that if they did eat they would surely die but that did not necessarily communicate with them. By the way, it still doesn't today for many people. You see simply all they needed to do was trust God and do what He said to do. As well, not do what God said not to do.
Knowledge is important and is necessary. Yet the knowledge gained that day in the garden has had far-reaching results. The sin in the garden was partaking of the fruit of the tree which was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That's knowledge and all of the consequences associated with it. Ever since that moment as the human race has developed knowledge has been the cornerstone. Yet if you consider that the tree's fruit was the knowledge of good and evil we have not done well at all.
That knowledge led man to consider what might be good but might choose evil. It happens every day and we see it at every level of life. Knowledge was used but not used as God intended because God knew man could not handle it. That scene from "A few good men"" comes to mind when Jack Nicholson's character yells at Tom Cruise's character and says "you can't handle the truth". Wow, that is so true and we have been dealing with this since the garden as we simply can't handle the truth.
Yet there is one truth we can and should be able to handle. That God loves us and has a plan for us. That He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sin and be raised from the dead the third day. That truth when believed in will give us eternal life. I know I have believed that truth and have eternal life.
So as we head into this very special season of the year with the sounds of Christmas all around us, let Elaine and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.
In God's Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
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