Accomplishment

Accomplishment

4/11/18

Do you know what your accomplishments are or what they are supposed to be?  This question runs deep in many lives with a good portion of people not understanding their lives because of such unanswered directions.  All of us at some point in time have had questions concerning the path that we have chosen and if we take a look at where the path has taken us what will we find?  God gives us an example of what our accomplishments should be and who directs them completes the stage we are given.  For those of us who choose the difficult road, there is always hope of eternal restoration through God alone but for us to admit such selfish techniques takes guts in it.  God wants all of His children to be accomplished at their works but in order to do this and to be in His Light, we must first listen and then obey His Ways.

When I was a young man, my parents did their best in teaching me to understand that no matter what I wanted in life I had to work for it.  That I could not sit around and do nothing and still expect to have all of the things I needed in life, not to mention the unnecessary toys that my eyes and mind believed I wanted.  Dating, going to sporting events and even concerts were included in this practice of every teenager around the world, but in order for me to attend and to participate in as many events as possible; I had to work for what I wanted.  My parents also did a good job at showing me that no matter how high up the “ladder” I would climb that there would always be someone higher in authority and to keep a humble beginning even though you might work for the same organization for decades.  I learned over time that when a person works hard and completes their daily assignments as agreed upon things will go much smoother and one can say that an honest day’s work has been done.

Most importantly, my parents taught me to keep God first in my life and that included, especially included my working career.  I have found out over my life that if God is not first in your life the all-encompassing failures shall win every time.  As I look back at my life I have often wondered where I would be if I had taken advantage of my parents’ advice concerning God, not saying that my position now is bad or ugly but I know I would have saved myself some pain and many others agony if I had done what was correct way back when.  While my parents told me that having God first in my entire life would provide me with an added security of favor I did not place into content that as they told me this that their words were directly coming from the Bible.  I know, I know, I should have gathered this fact as a biblical truth but it was not until my later years that I understood that my accomplishments were not of my own accord but guided by God and His wonderful and mighty hand.  No, I have not done things correctly at all times but when I did do things wrong it was my heart that was spoken to by God and then corrected due to my obedience to God. 

For most of my life I have heard the Kingdom principle of sowing and reaping and how it not only applies to the workplace but also in our every day and all around lives.  The passage that God will use in this article I had never put into motion as a sowing and reaping verse, but when one studies the issues in this verse it all becomes clear and changes the entire setting of the Garden of Eden.  Many of us believe that the laws of sowing and reaping come later in God’s Word but in fact, we have the first example of this law in Genesis 2:15 with the results of such law playing out in Genesis 3:6-7.  Genesis 2:15 states: “And the Lord God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it.”  Simple and easy enough one would think, but when you put this verse into context with all the other verses that deal with sowing and reaping it becomes clear that this is the first verse that directly deals with this principle and humanity.

It is clear that God gives Adam directions of what to do when He places which establishes the law of sowing and reaping, remember it is God who established this principle it is us who choose to follow its path by the means of His Way or by our way.  We must not forget that what God commanded Adam to do was a continual process and one that would not end any time soon.  This job of upkeep of the Garden of Eden was a great responsibility and one that had to be maintained in order for obedience to thrive.  God was the One who established this process of sowing and He also understood what would occur if mankind did not continue the job that He told them to do, this pattern still rings true today for when God impresses upon you to do something you need to do it.  Understand that God shall never force you to do anything but that everything in our lives is a choice, but if we only listen to His voice and obey what He wants us to do then our lives shall be more blesses than we could ever imagine because the Kingdom of God is advanced.

We would like to believe that Adam and Eve went along and continued to do what God had commanded them to complete with great enthusiasm but when Genesis Chapter 3 rolls around we have a dim picture of the job being done for they are distracted and by their own confession do not understand the reasoning behind the single command of God.  From the description of the Garden of Eden, we can generally figure out that the entire space was fairly large in size which meant that both Adam and Eve had plenty of work to do around them, a precursor of not becoming bored with their jobs and living space.  The mindfulness of obedience does not stop on any given day for the work God gives us does not end but continues to be in need of dressed.  We must keep in mind that if we continue in the accomplishments of the world that one day we will make a golden calf, and whatever that calf may represent will be a Pandora’s Box for your life for the rest of your life.

Do you ever get frustrated with your kids in the morning when it is time for them to be somewhere?  Should I ask if you personally have this problem at all?  I know that I have days where I just do not want to go to work or to go to my follow up doctor’s appointment and eventually I drag myself out of the house and attend whatever position I need for that day.  All of us have days like this and it is normal to react as such, but when this type of attitude becomes a habit it changes the setting of our hearts and therefore our spiritual plane as well.  When this elongated pattern occurs, it becomes obvious to others as soon as we step out of the front door for our appearance reflects what is inside and as soon as our mouths open a verbal confirmation of such physical presentation comes into light.  Naturally, the next step would be to take this attitude with us to our workplaces and then bring it back home with us after our work day is completed.  This is not a random fad that one might wish away but it is a mindset that invites a cultivated belief of withdrawals from real life that has been set into motion way back in the Garden of Eden.  Whether one wishes to admit it or not, our existence and the patterns we make today stem from what occurred in the lives of Adam and Eve and until we figure this out systemically, our lives shall never be free from the world’s bond chains.

When we have people walking around in public, attending official meetings, and regularly appearing in shabby attire it is easily deduced by others about how their lives are run.  Ironically, when you take a closer look at many of these folks, you will notice that their nails are neat and colorful and their hair all labeled in the newest type of style yet buying junk food or not paying attention to their surroundings as they type on their cell phones.  Now, please, understand that God is coming against these benefits of our lives but when they become a habit first then life second it presents a danger both in the physical realm and more importantly in the eternal.  Take some time and go sit somewhere where a large number of people go, just watch them, and then see if God is wrong on this issue.  If we place our selfish conditions aside we will easily and quickly see that He is correct.  It is at this point that one should recognize a pattern and if that physical pattern is present then the accompanying inner pattern can be assumed to be present as well.  Here lies the overall issue, and that is modern societal conditions of the world does not have any problem with this type of presentation and we have willingly incorporated this lie into our lives without hesitation.

I wish I could tell you that Adam and Eve did not have to worry about this type of behavior and attitude but if I did then I would be promoting a lie.  We cannot forget that even though Adam and Eve knew no sin they were still human with the same abilities that we have today which means that they had choices to make each day.  It is mentioned that God walked with them in the cool of the day and it gives us a picture of how God wanted His Garden of Eden to be dressed as well, for God is a consistent God on all levels.  In addition, have you ever wondered why the particular conversation between Eve and the serpent occurred at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?  It is this picture that the Bible gives us that portray so much about Satan and how he always wants to contradict God, and we know that if God had chosen any other tree in that garden for Adam and Eve not to eat from; Satan would have met them there too.  This should have been a dead giveaway to those two humans, yet it was a stage that already had been put into motion and the accomplishments made were about to be reaped.

So, this begs the question of whose plan for Adam and Eve was followed that day in Genesis 3:6-7?  It is obvious that it was not God’s plan for their lives to be completely interrupted with an introduction of sin and death into their previously unknown living conditions?  This means that the authority and dominion that God had established in Adam and Eve were in question and when executed by Satan proves that God had a directional plan put in place for Adam and Eve and that Satan wanted nothing else but to disrupt God’s plan by altering the plan in another direction.  If Adam and Eve were fully confident and truly believed in God’s plan for their lives then they would have had no issues in standing up for what they had been told when the serpent questioned them about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  It means that some portion of doubt or regret of the single command of God was thwarted by Satan and the will to keep such a command was weakened.  If what God had told them was true in their hearts, Satan would not have had an opportunity to be entertained by the humans much less dine with them as the fruit was eaten.  The accomplishment of Satan ruled over the accomplishment of God that day through the delusions of human thinking.

Your life demonstrates and illustrates the command that God gave to Adam concerning the Garden of Eden.  This command that He gave is still intact today and still needs to be kept by everyone in order to understand and live eternally.  The Garden of Eden may no longer be present in this world but YOU are and this truth should serve as a picture of how we need to live in order to survive the constant mess that the world offers.  There is nothing more important than your dominion and if you tend to it as God commanded Adam and Eve to do so then our lives will be filled with peace and prosperity but if we do not keep and dress our dominion we will turn it over to Satan just as Adam and Eve did.  Your job of keeping and dressing your dominion does NOT include spiritual or physical suicide but to fully accomplish the command of obedience that God wants from His children.  God is a 100% God on all levels and if we give 100% all the time we will not want to stray from that percentage.

I understand that there were probably times that Adam and Eve looked over the Garden of Eden and fretted a bit about all that needed to be done, but remember God knows you better than you know yourself and He understands the ability that He has placed within your life.  God never doubts you it is Satan that places doubt into your heart concerning the tasks that God gives you to accomplish.  When we become lazy or lax in the jobs that God gives us to complete then we revert back to the age of Adam and Eve when they were living in such doubt.  Yes, Adam and Eve had great intentions at first, who doesn’t but they forgot that tending to the Garden also meant to keep their eyes and ears at the ready for anyone or anything that would seek harm to them and the Garden of Eden.  Accomplishment on your own time is totally different AND contrary to a prescribed time from an authority figure.  If we truly put forth the entire effort God has given us to complete the duty He has assigned us then what is left undone shall be protected until we pick it back up the next prescribed time.  However, if we keep our own time and approach our mission in this manner, then the door is not only open for Satan to ruin our lives but those lives who we were supposed to touch as well.

Each day that I turn up for work I see the resulted improprieties that so many leave undone yet claim as their accomplished job.  It is sickening to see such able-bodied people lay around and portray themselves as a victim of circumstances while demanding services from others for a service they really do not need.  These actions alone prove true of a song by Toby Mac in which it states that we keep swinging for the fences but at the same time asking where the couch is at.  This life of work and accomplishment does not make sense at all yet the world tells us that we can thrive in this type of living and work status.  There is no way possible to prove what I am about to say but it falls right into the category of what occurred in the Garden of Eden and how we look at work today, but I would bet that Satan in all of the times that he was with Adam and Eve probably helped them keep the Garden of Eden just to ensure a trust factor between the parties involved.  Like I said, it is not stated but according to how humans receive those who they believe are doing a good thing for them this process seems like a manner in which he acted.  It works and is in evidence today, so why not back then?

The story of Adam and Eve is a great one that we still do not fully understand all of its meaning and because of this truth we cannot ignore its content.  God wants us to give the job that His Son has commanded us to do a 100% effort at all times.  If we do not then we automatically lose ground and fall into the same tragic category of a sinful Adam and Eve.  Look at the original conditions that those two people lived in compared to the conditions they were forced to live in after sin entered into their lives.  The laws of sowing and reaping were in place then and they are in place today and if we do not wake up and begin to teach the truth about God and His Ways our reaping shall not be pretty.  Church, it is time we really repent and allow God to restore our land before He has to grab our attention in another dynamic way.  The patterns of sin are present in our hearts and it is time we rid ourselves of such stench.

Here is the proof that we are in deep trouble and it does not come from me but from the Word of God.  When Adam and Eve lived in perfect conditions they had no idea of what it meant to have pain, trials, weeds, agony, and overall sin harbor in their lives.  God had told them about such conditions and how not to allow such conditions into their lives.  Both choose to go their own way and allow the accomplishments of Satan rule over them that day.  After that dreadful day, they understood what it meant to live in sin and they were forced from the safety of God’s perfect covering.  They might have been convinced that this way of life was better but soon they knew that it wasn’t.  What is the difference you may ask?  While Adam and Eve did not know beforehand what the actual conditions of their sinfulness would be, we do by the loving Word of God.  We really need to stick our noses and hearts back in the Bible and put God’s definition as number one in our lives again.  God’s accomplishment for our lives is a 100% commitment and that is what we need in order to dress and keep our dominion.

DLB