Who do you listen to?

Sermon Notes – February 10th

Gen 2:15-17, 3:1-7

Who do you listen to? Whose advice do you follow? Mentors are people important to us because they model behavior, they embody character or attributes we want to imitate. As we follow their advice, imitate their habits, we become more like them.
In the beginning, God created paradise and put us in charge. We had everything we needed. Plenty of food, meaningful work tending the garden. God made us male and female so we wouldn’t be along. Then he gave us a single command. Don’t eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die. With this command, we had a choice to listen to God or not.
Then comes the serpent who questioned God’s command. The snake questioned God’s motive for setting up the command. The tempter tells us a different command. Eat the fruit for you will not die, the fruit will make you like God.
Adam and Eve had a choice. Who would they listen to? Who would they trust? Who was telling the truth? They chose to trust the snake, I believe, because the snake told them what they wanted to hear. You have no limits. You can be a god. You do not have to obey anyone, any law. You can be at the center of things.
The results? Adam and Eve became aware that they were “naked”. In Hebrew this word is spelt the same as the word for “clever”, the word that described the snake. So, Adam and Eve did not become like God, they became like the snake. They became like the one they listened to.
So, who do you listen to? The next time you are presented with a choice, consider the source. Consider the person advising you. Do you want to be more like them?

Grace and Peace,
James