Genesis 1-5

I am so excited! If this isn’t your first time reading my blog, you know I have been reading through the Bible every year for a while now. And you will probably know that my favorite way to read it is chronologically. So imagine my excitement when yesterday morning the pastor invited our church family to read the Bible TOGETHER this year… chronologically! We are using the reading plan from the YourVersion Bible app. What can I say? I’m in!

So to start the year out in Genesis, something occurred to me about Adam and Eve’s original sin. It seems contrary to Paul’s teaching that we ought to strive to be like Christ. Paul even tells us to have the mind of Christ (Romans 12:2, Philippians 2:5-11). So why, then, was Satan so wrong to tell Eve she could achieve the goal of being like God by eating the fruit? Why is it ok for Paul to tell us to be like God, and wrong for Satan to suggest the same thing?

The obvious answer is: Eve was told not to eat the fruit. That bite was blatant disobedience, and that is NOT being like God.

The lesson for us is that becoming godly men and women, having the mind of Christ is not easy. There are no shortcuts. Saying certain words, working up an emotional worship experience, attending church or reading a quick devotional in the morning doesn’t necessarily translate into becoming more like Jesus.

Sometimes there are growing pains. Sometimes there are surgeries, pruning, the cutting away of sin in our lives. And it hurts! We call it sanctification, and it doesn’t happen any other way than walking with God… one step at a time. It takes falling down and allowing God to pick us up and set us on the right path again. It takes confronting sin and humbling ourselves in order to receive God’s grace.

It takes an intentional effort on our part – like reading God’s Word every day, meditating on it, questioning it, talking about it, memorizing it, using it… every day. I can’t think of a more valuable New Year’s Resolution!

So, dear one, I hope you will join the Frederica Baptist Church family and read through the Bible in 2023. Then let’s talk about it. Let’s let God grow us into people who are more and more like Jesus every day. I’m excited about the prospect of doing this with you!