Have I Got a Deal For You!

Dan Howard   -  

This last Sunday and Wednesday we have gone back to the beginning. Literally. Our reading has been from Genesis 3. The fall of man into temptation and sin. I want to look at what Adam and Eve were offered. It was more than just “an apple”.

“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Good to feed my desire
Looked good.
Good for wisdom.
and the assurance that “You will not surely die”

We judge Adam and Eve harshly. We look at them and say “how could you not know this was a bad deal?”

We aren’t much better at judging value. For example, in 2018 Payless shoes pulled quite a stunt. They had been criticized in several articles for their “cheap” shoes. So what did they do?  They rented space in an upscale shopping mall, created a fake luxury brand Palessi, invited fashion influencers to a grand opening and sold the exact same shoes at a 1,000 percent markup. That’s right, 40 dollar shoes for 600 dollars. You can see it all here.

Satan feeds us value bin lies at designer prices
Follow your heart….and yet Matthew 15:19
It Looks Goods…and yet 1 Samuel 16:7
It’s the smart thing to do…and yet 1 Corinthians 1:26

Perhaps I should just let Solomon sum it up,

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death. – Proverbs 14:12

This is why we have a Lent season. We need time to step back and reflect of the paths we have walked, the deals we have made, and how lost we deserve to be. Yet through God’s underserved mercy our paths are made straight, a new covenant is made and the lost have been found.

You have been redeemed.

See you Sunday,

  • Pastor Dan