I was recently asked to do a five minute talk for a mens breakfast. As I pondered what to talk about I thought about Adam.<\/p>\n
The first man.<\/p>\n
The blueprint.<\/p>\n
But as it turns out Adam didn\u2019t do all that well. The story goes that God made a helper for Adam called Eve. The serpent came to Eve and told her to break the one rule that God had given. You see it wasn\u2019t a hard life in the Garden of Eden, there was only one rule \u2013 don\u2019t eat that fruit, the rest is yours.
\nThe snake tells Eve it\u2019s actually ok to eat that fruit and that everything will be better afterwards, and so she does.<\/p>\n
Hang on \u2013 where\u2019s Adam? Shouldn\u2019t he be looking out for this woman? This helper? This gift from God?<\/p>\n
Genisis 3.6 \u20186 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.\u2019<\/p>\n
Adam was right there with her. The whole time. Yet he said nothing. Being a married man myself I can understand that perhaps Adam just wanted to keep the wife happy, he didn\u2019t want to rock the boat, perhaps he didn\u2019t have the energy for a disagreement. He was thinking in the short term.<\/p>\n
Adam was there when God gave the one rule, he knew all about it, yet he couldn\u2019t speak up when the time came. Instead he just went with the flow. Imagine if Adam had had the courage to think long term, to do what he knew to be right, even if it meant an argument ensued, even if the short term result wasn\u2019t attractive.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Adam it gets worse. Having both eaten that fruit, God comes to see what the crack is. He asks Adam first. And Adam basically says to God \u2018It was that woman\u2019s fault \u2013 and you were the one who put her here!\u2019<\/p>\n
Short term thinking is easy, and often instantly gratifying. The world revels in short term thinking, and the current financial climate is an example where this ignorance of the long term leads. By thinking in the short term Adam misses the chance to make a stand for what is right. How often I replicate this in
\nmy own life, feigning ignorance or misunderstanding to avoid making that stand.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sick of that kind of life. It\u2019s time for a change.<\/p>\n
Previously published on\u00a0Ebs and Flows \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n