What is Faithfulness?

So what is so special about faithfulness? I have been really mulling this over in my mind for the last few days or so. I have come to realize that faithfulness is something existent in all people. Everyone is faithful to something or someone. Even those of us that we would call unfaithful are faithful to something; whether it be our emotional desires at the time, our selfish wants, or what our best friend wants, we are faithful to something. The question then becomes, what or who are we faithful to? Are we faithful to ourselves? Are we faithful to our feelings? Are we faithful to our friends? Are we faithful to God? Who or what are we faithful to?

I think in working with the young adults and the lesson for this week i will be focusing on helping them to 1) identify examples of faithfulness & unfaithfulness, 2) understand what fruit and faithfulness really are, 4) understand where fruit comes from and how it comes to be and 3) apply it. What ways are we faithful? How do we become faithful to the right things? What are three things that i can do today to be more faithful to the right things?

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Naked and Ashamed?

I think it's interesting that after eating the forbidden fruit, and their eyes being open to the knowledge of the good and evil, the very first thing that Adam and Eve notice, outside of the decision and direct consequences, is that they are naked. And, that they were ashamed of it. They had been naked the entire time previously. They had seen each other naked day after day hour after hour, time after time. They talked that way. They walked that way. They slept that way. They made love that way. They lived that way. Adam, Eve, and even God had seen nothing wrong with their being naked before they ate of the fruit. There was no shame and no judgment in any way, shape, or form. They could have gone on being naked for forever and it wouldn't have been an issue. Apparently they hadn't even considered needing clothing for warmth or protection from the elements because they didn't have anything made already. They had to fashion for themselves covering and clothing from the leaves around them.

I'm wondering, who are they ashamed of being seen naked by? They had seen each other naked day in and day out. Theirs was the first marriage. There was no reason for them to be ashamed of being naked in each others presence. God Himself had made them. He knew them in and out, piece by piece. Yet the very first thing that occurs in recognizing the knowledge of good and evil is that they are naked and have need of covering.

There are a great many things that i think i understand about the Bible, God, etc. Just look at everything i've written about the first 3 chapters of Genesis alone. Yet this is something that i have a hard time wrapping my puny brain around. Why is being naked such a shameful thing after Adam and Eve ate the fruit, but not before? Why is it considered shameful now? Why wasn't it then? Obviously it is an important concept since it is set as "the" major issue after eating the forbidden fruit. I could think of a hundred different reasons, explanations, and concepts for this change. Everything from looking at how young children are not ashamed of being naked and as they grow older they build that need for modesty to how the need for covering builds and enhances the desires of and for intimacy within the relationship. It doesn't matter. I still don't fully grasp it, and i may never. For now, that's alright.

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One Little Thing... continued

Please be aware that this post is a continuation of the previous week's post.

In my mind there is no doubt that Adam recognized a difference in his wife when she offered him the fruit. One cannot go from a perfectly made human being to much, much less than that without it being clear as day. Sin creates a separation, a gap, a chasm between that which is holy and that which is not. As a result, Adam's choice to take the fruit was exactly that, a choice. He recognized that as a result of taking and eating the fruit there was something different about his wife. She had changed and not for the better. A major gap/chasm had formed between them, and he knew the source.
So i'm convinced that Adam went into eating this forbidden fruit well aware, much more aware than his wife, of the command as well as the consequences of his actions. He was not deceived into considering that the fruit was good for food. He could have cared less if it was pleasing to the eye. The desire to make one wise may have had some pull, but ultimately i believe that even that desire was overwhelmed by seeing the consequences of Eve's actions. So when Adam made the choice to take of the fruit he knowingly made the choice to turn away from God for the sake of his wife.
As a result, Eve's sin was a blind sin resulting in part from deception. Adam's sin, however, was a sin with open eyes. There was no deception. He recognized and made the choice to turn his back on God. He loved God dearly. God created him. God gave him everything he had and wanted, but he desired his wife and unity with his wife even more. So he placed his wife before God. He chose his spouse over his source. That which was created from him over He whom created him. The rest, as they say, is history.

Wow, i just realized what a comparison and contrast this incident and choice are to what happened to Abraham and Isaac when God tested Abraham; asking him to sacrifice his only son whom he loved.

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One Little Thing Can Make All the Difference in the World

"She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
Genesis 3:6

I really have to wonder what was going on in Adam's head when his wife Eve gave him the forbidden fruit. I have already commented about what the text states here; that Adam was with Eve at the time. When researching this word it appears that by Adam being "with" Eve he was in the very near vicinity if not right next to her at the time. Chances are pretty good that he knew what had happened long before she ever gave him the fruit, but then again he may not have. He may have been nearby and not privy to the conversation. Either way, when the fruit was given to Adam there is no doubt in my mind that he knew what that fruit was. It was the one thing that he had been forbidden from partaking in. It was the only thing that he knew and understood, beyond the shadow of a doubt, was wrong. So the decision that he made had to be a conscious decision.

One of my professors, Dr. Fount Schultz, at one point brought together some thoughts in relation to this topic. When God created man, did He create an incomplete person? Did he design man to only use a part of facilities? I don't believe that He did or would have. If He didn't create man to fully utilize His body and mind why would He have created them as He did? Currently as human beings we only actively use around 10% of our brain. I have heard that if our brains were utilized to their full potential, what we would be able to do is unimaginable. I know that for me there are days where i can't think or focus to stay on task and read and understand even light reading. Other times my mind is so clear and undistracted that i can get most anything done. On those kinds of days, reading a scientific paper and seeing problems and flaws as well as the potential and possibilities is in easy grasp. I can easily understand theories and concepts that the day before had my mind spinning before i even got past the first couple of sentences.

That change in our mental capabilities would have occurred at the fall of man, at the eating of the fruit. If/when that was the case, Eve taking the fruit and eating it would have changed everything. Adam would have been able to see immediately the difference in his bride. It's like working with the moderate to severely developmentally disabled. You don't need to be a genius to recognize the difference immediately. So when Eve took the fruit there is no doubt in my mind that Adam knew what had happened. So for him to make the decision to eat the fruit would have had to have been a conscious choice. So seeing the consequences why would he have done it?

More on this next week...

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