Fortune Cookie Wisdom
Ge 3:12 And the man said, The woman
whom thou gavest to
be with me...
Ge 3:13 And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me,
“Where did you get an 1895 quarter?” Mr. Green
asked
“Billy just bought a candy bar with it.”
Mr. Green knew Billy’s dad and called him.
“Hello Mr. Jones. Did you used to have a
collection of old coins?”
“Yes, I do have a coin collection. Why are you
asking?”
“Well, your son, Billy, just bought a candy bar
with an 1895 quarter.”
Billy’s dad rushed to the school, grabbed his son and demanded “Billy,
did you get into my coin collection?”
“Well dad, you know when I fell off my bicycle
last week and hit my head?”
“Billy…what does that have to do with this?”
Billy’s innocent reply was “Well, dad, I
haven’t been able to remember anything since then!”
Billy’s answer may make us smile. It was a
clever way to avoid taking responsibility for what he had done. We hear people
doing the same all the time. It isn’t a new way of thinking. Adam and Eve
responded the same way when they had done wrong.
In the
second chapter of Genesis we find the “thou shalt not” given to Adam.
Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat
of it:
A fact often overlooked is that God gave that
message to Adam but not Eve. Eve does not come on the scene until verse
22.
The events are familiar to most of us. The
serpent talks Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, Eve encourages Adam to do
the same and when God comes on the scene their guilty conscience kicks in and
they hide from God.
Ge 3:9 ¶ And the LORD God called unto Adam,
and said unto him, Where art thou?
Did they really think they could play hide and
seek with God? There are people who still do that today. They may be very
religious and talk spiritually, and keep their sin hidden. Jesus called the
Pharisees who did that, hypocrites. Or they may try to justify their lifestyle by
denying the existence of God. The Bible calls them fools.
When confronted with the question “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I
commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? They responded like many people
do today. They blamed someone else.
Adam said it was Eve’s fault. The woman gave me of the tree, and I did
eat. He also indirectly blamed God
when he added the phrase “…whom thou gavest me.” Adam admitted "I did eat" but it wasn't his fault. The blame should go to Eve and ultimately God.
Eve’s excuse is still being used. She said “…The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” The devil made me do it! They both admitted “I did eat” and both
avoided responsibility by blaming their actions on someone else. Today we hear
people doing the same thing. “I was in a bad mood”, “Now see what you made me
do”, “Your making me angry”, “he started it”, “What did you expect after how
they treated me”, are a few examples of excuses we commonly hear.
35 years ago I had the same problem. I was
angry most of the time. A person who parked their car crooked and took up two
parking spaces would make me fume with anger all day. When
something went wrong or people irritated me I could be angry for hours. But it
wasn’t my fault, people made me angry, things made me angry and circumstances
made me angry. Yes I was angry but it wasn't my fault. They made me angry.
One day in a Chinese restaurant I opened a
fortune cookie that said “No man will take your happiness”. That really made me
angry. Stupid fortune cookie. What did it mean that no man will take my happiness,
it happened to me every day! People made me angry all the time.
That fortune cookie message ate away at me,
because I knew it was so wrong! About the same time I started reading Wiersbe’s
little book on Phillipians titled “Be Happy” It didn’t happen overnight but I
slowly began to understand that people did not take my happiness, I was giving
it away.
During that time I had a lawn mower that
would not start. I went into the house growling about “That stupid lawnmower”.
My dear wife simply asked “Oh did you give your happiness to the lawn mower?” She was right, I had given my happiness away.
It sounds silly but I went back out, kicked that lawn mower and said “You can’t
have my happiness.” And I took it back and was no longer angry with the lawn mower. That was a turning point for me.
As I studied the book of Philippians and
learned the four chapters dealt with circumstances, people, things, and worry I
stopped seeing myself as a victim. The circumstances, people, and things that
used to upset me no longer did. They were not the cause of my anger, frustration
and unhappiness. I was. My human instruction manual (the Bible) explained it
clearly. Instead of anger I could now be happy even when circumstances, people
or things were not the way I wanted.
For our meditation today pause and think on the
following verses.
Ps 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
and
uphold me with thy free spirit.
Here in David’s psalm of repentance he is
confessing his sin. That is where it must start. We cannot blame others for our
transgressions. Accepting responsibility for our sins and transgressions and confessing them is the starting point.
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Pr 12:20 ¶ Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine
evil:
but to the counsellors of peace is joy.
Do not give your joy away to people who irritate you.
Job 1:21 …the LORD gave, and the LORD
hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job
sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Even Job, who lost everything, did not allow
things or circumstances to steal his joy. We see that he was not angry but blessed the name of
the Lord.
It is easy to think things bring happiness. It
is easy to do what Adam and Eve did, and blame others for what we do ourselves.
And it is easy to give our happiness away. May God help us understand phrases like "you made me mad" or "I was in a bad mood" do not excuse ungodly behavior.
Joh 15:11 These
things have I spoken unto you,
that my joy might remain in you,
and that your
joy might be full.
