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in our mistakes and errors, we look for others who we can blame for our bad choices
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8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:8-12
Because of my dad’s job, we moved around a good bit. This helped me learn how to make friends quickly. There were times where friend-making worked splendidly, and there were times when it didn’t. I can remember one friendship in particular. We were playing heartily as boys do when bugs and frogs are involved, and the vigorous playing led to really muddy clothes. We were going to his house, laughing at each others’ appearance and amazed at how much of the terrain stuck to us and our clothes. When we arrived, we were met by his mother at the porch and she started to get after my friend, who immediately turned, extended his arm and index finger at me, and declared that it was my fault and that he didn’t want to play in the mud in the first place – a total fabrication. His mother looked at me, told me to go home, and said she would reconsider my being friends with her son. People sometimes say the meanest things.
Genesis 3:12 seems to carry that same tone. Adam looks at God, realizing what he’d done, and gesturing towards Eve in the same manner as my friend did to me. And, this from the man who, just a few verses before, voiced the first love poem by humankind for the very woman he was pointing at in disdain. The woman he loved so dearly, the gift from God’s hands, made from his side, was now the person receiving his anger and blame. All because he made a choice to take the fruit and eat it too. He couldn’t ‘own’ his choice. Just as my friend’s mother could have known her son was playing at his own choice, God knew the truth. Both were guilty and at fault.
How true this is with us, today. Often, in our mistakes and errors, we look for others who we can blame for our bad choices. Just like the young boy, when someone directs the focus of a wrongdoing towards us, our first reaction can be that of directing the blame onto others. We have to wonder how often this comes back on us after blaming others. This isn’t right. We need to take ownership of the things we do wrong, confess them, and refuse to blame others for our mistakes and transgressions. Consider those times where you’ve wrongly blamed others and confess them to your Heavenly Father, seeking the forgiveness he freely gives.[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_column_text]
By Rich Obrecht
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