Just about everyone knows the story of Adam and Eve. It’s in the first book of the Bible called “Genesis.” The story starts out “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” it wasn’t long after that the serpent enticed the innocent Eve, who persuaded the gullible Adam into disobeying God’s instruction, by convincing them that the forbidden fruit, the fruit of knowledge, is restricted from mankind because God doesn’t want anyone to know what he knows for fear of losing his position as the almighty. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and this illustrates to us all the inherent weakness of mankind.
When you think about the wisdom that this little tidbit of information contains, it’s almost an epiphany in itself. The serpent explained to Eve that the knowledge of good and evil will open your eyes, and once you know how it works, then you will realize that God’s rules don’t have to be followed, you can make your own rules, and thus become gods yourselves. We’ve come to know this as the “Original Sin” being lead astray, and doing what you know is wrong by disobeying God’s rule. Although, the serpent was actually telling the truth when he explained to Eve how it works, because there is a way around God’s laws, and it’s a very common practice to do what we know is wrong to get something more for ourselves. However, you must keep in mind that the serpent is really Satan, and he’s the one telling us the truth. Right? There maybe truth to it, but it’s not entirely true. It could be that Satan inadvertently forgot to mention a few critical facts that may have altered Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God’s instruction, but the way it was explained it sure seemed like a winning proposition.
Anyone that was in the Navy is familiar with the term “Watertight Integrity”, and what that basically means is, you want to keep the water out of the vessel. If there’s a breach to the “Watertight Integrity” then you have a leak, and if it’s a massive breach then the ship could sink. As an illustration think of yourself as a vessel, now think about your integrity. A person of integrity is considered to be an honest person that’s inclined to do the what’s right. If you think of yourself as a person of integrity, but you’ll still wrong another person when someone with power over you asks you to, then you’re still guilty, and now your vessel has a leak. This is actually a very common setup technique used to increase the control over a person, or even to a group of people. The way that one works is, they’ll get you to do what you know is wrong, and make you believe that you’ll be part of something big and powerful so nothing bad will happen to you for doing it. Even though there’s truth to it, it’s misleading, because the real truth is that you put a hole in your own vessel, so from now on you have to do what they tell you to do or they will sink you. Almost everybody is in this one, and if you’re one of the few that haven’t fallen for it, you’re still not free of it, because so many people have been caught up in it, that they will always besmirch you at their command, but if you maintain a high level of integrity the amount of damage that can be done to you is negligible.
By the time Jesus Christ was born, Satan had such a solid hold of the entire world that there was little hope of ever breaking free of his iron grip. The bind was so extensive, so impenetrable and interwoven, that even Jesus Christ himself couldn’t straighten it out. However, it is my sincere belief that it’s not meant to be straightened out, well at least not for everyone. Jesus Christ has given us everything that we need to free ourselves from Satan’s power, but it’s up to each one of us to live up to our side of the bargain. Jesus Christ said, if you believe in me, and do as I say, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Since I’m a living testament to this fact I can promise everyone that it can happen for you as well. It may not happen overnight, and as I said before, you’ll have to live up to your end of the bargain by refusing to do what you know is wrong, and as long as you stand your ground it will give your faith the opportunity to strengthen and to grow. I know there are many Christian religions that con us into believing that because Jesus Christ died for our sins we can continue to do what we know is wrong, but that’s simply not true. They encourage that way of thinking to maintain their control over you, and it means that they themselves have turned into what Jesus Christ was preaching against. Just remember that the priests of Jerusalem were as much responsible for Christ’s crucifixion as Herod, and more than Pilate was.
Christmas is the day that we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ. Some of us honor his name by singing songs of praise, and some of us go to church to worship, and there are many other rituals and traditions that we partake in that is designed to pay tribute to our lord Jesus Christ. While all of these practices are commendable, ask yourself this question. What would please him more than any other gift? How about if you made the decision to be the person that does what’s right, and become a person of integrity, someone that is unwilling to compromise their own sense of self worth by standing up to those who try to get us to do what we know is wrong. What better way is there to honor our lord’s name than to be the person that he wants you to be, the person that you know you can be. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth the effort.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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