Inspired by Genesis
3:14-24
“Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden
of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the
garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard
the way to the tree of life.” Genesis
3:23-24
Most of us can look back on a time when things seemed better
or easier. We do it as individuals, we
do it as a culture, and we do it as a society.
We long for the glory days of old when everything worked the way it was
supposed to, and things were good.
Frequently our ideas about how good things were ‘back then’
are faulty, and what we’re longing for is not days gone by, but a fictitious
reality that never actually existed.
Sometimes, however, things really were
better or easier once upon a time, and we work hard to get back there.
But we were never meant to go back. Adam and Eve had it ‘good’ in the garden of
Eden, but God drove them out with a purpose to fulfill and a life to live
elsewhere. He moved them forward, and
guarded the way back with a flaming sword, preventing them from ever returning. Going back was not an option; they could sit
and pine away for what was lost, or they could try to make something good out
of their current reality.
We have the same choice.
Whatever circumstances existed to enable our glory days gone by have
since changed, and we can never go back.
God continues to move us forward, and all we have to work with is the
reality we’re in now. We can use it to help
determine the future, but we can never reclaim the past.
When God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, he went with
them, and helped them to shape their new reality. God is our past, our present, and our future
hope. Let us be grateful for the past
even as we look ahead to the future, and live the lives we have been given
right now.
Let us pray. Eternal God,
the whole history of the earth is known to you, including the parts we haven’t
lived yet. Help us to look forward to
what you have in store for us, that we may continue on with sure and certain
hope in your presence and your love.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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