by Pastor Rich Carlson         

It sounds like a noble goal: to be like God. But it was the serpent's line to deceive Eve into eating the forbidden fruit! As I was reading this morning, I discovered two interesting elements in this Garden of Eden story:

1.    Eve's mistake—at least one of her mistakes—was placing higher demands on herself than God did (I'll explain that in a minute).

2.    Satan's "lie" actually ended up being true (I'll explain that in the next installment of the column).

Now notice this: what God told Eve and what Eve said God told her were actually different things. God said, "Don't eat from the tree or you will die." Eve told the serpent that God said, "Don't eat and don’t touch the tree or you will die."

It was true even way back then: a secondhand story is usually not accurate That's a universal principle that I try to remember as I listen to people tell me what someone else said or did (or what someone heard that someone thought someone else said or did). I think I can use a superlative here and say that these secondhand stories are never entirely accurate, and the inaccuracies cause countless problems in relationships.  

I was reminded this morning of the importance of listening to—and obeying—God. But I was also reminded of the danger of expanding on what God actually said to what I think He might have meant. It probably was a good idea not even to touch what God said not to eat. But in debate with the devil, that addition put Eve's conclusions up for discussion with the serpent, and she lost. There are a lot of well-intentioned additions to God’s word out there in the world today: ideas, standards, traditions, opinions, and controls others try to put on one’s spiritual life. They might be good or they might not be good, but often they’re not actually from God.   

I pray all of us might carefully and prayerfully develop the ability to separate God's actual will from all the other stuff well-meaning humans may try to impose on us. There are a lot of ideas out there, and it may be good to listen to them, weigh them carefully, and apply them as needed to our lives. However, they are not necessarily God's word, and it is not always wrong if I don't follow them. In fact, it’s often a good idea not to.    

Now, in the interest of practicing what I preach, I will tell you that you don't have to believe any of this. It is just my musing—not God's word!  So go to God's word yourself, and see what it says directly to you.

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. "God is Faithful" is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.