Read Genesis 2:4-25

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE 
“And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.” (Genesis 1:30 NLT)

  Most people, by now, know that I am vegan. I am not shy about that fact, as it is a lifestyle change that not only transformed me into who I am today, but one that saved my very life. The first year of my being vegan was the roughest time for me, mostly because I had so much to come to terms with. I had to come to terms that I was no longer “fat”, not only in my own perception, but in other people’s pereception as well. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was disease free, that I no longer ate what anyone else in my circle of family, friends, and colleagues ate.

I had to come to terms with the fact that every meal would become a discussion about my lifestyle and that such discussions would cause others around the table to be angry at me, even if I wasn’t the one initiating the conversation, because they were “sick of hearing about it”. I also had to come to terms with the fact that some people would view my lifestyle as a threat to their own and attack me over it, especially on social media as I shared about my lifestyle, or shared recipes and/or things I learned on my Facebook wall.

Halfway through my first year, I had an idea about “Returning to Eden”. I thought it would make for a great book title, and I thought that I would be able to write about about my own journey of returning to eden. I got the idea of the name from a conversation I was having with a long-time friend about how the only life that existed in Eden as the vegan life. Adam, Eve, the animals, birds, bugs, lizards, and creepy crawlers were all created to eat and be sustained on vegetables (Genesis 1:29-31). God saw that as the ideal way of living, and so did the ancients evidentally.

The conversation was centered on how far humanity has fallen from that ideal, and how we could once again return to Eden. After all, I was on the way, wasn’t I? I had reversed my type-2 diabetes, lost over 75 lbs (at the time), eliminated my high blood pressure, and lowered my cholesterol to normal levels. Things were great and I was well on the returning to Eden.

Well, over time, reality hit. What has been lost can never be returned to. There was no going back to Eden. I believe that is why it says in Genesis, “After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And He placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24) It’s not that I take the account literally as if there were some Garden of Eden out there to be found, and if we found it we would see those Cherubim guarding it; rather, I believe the point of it is that Eden/Paradise/Creation as God intended it had been lost.

There was nothing that could be done to reclaim it. Certainly, eating from the Tree of Life would not have brought Eden back, or us back to Eden. Instead, it would have forever divided us from God in our sins. Eden could not be reclaimed, but God had something better than Eden planned. While sin and death were not God’s doing, God would conquer sin and death on the cross through Jesus the Christ. The empty tomb would be a sign forever opening up to the reality that human beings were God’s children, not by virtue of being Created by God, but by virtue of choosing to be in a loving relationship with God our Creator.

True LOVE is mutual LOVE. Love is not love by force nor can love exist without choice. LOVE is better than Eden and it is the Kingdom on Earth God has been building ever since humanity first chose their own independence over and above a mutual, loving, dependent relationship with our Creator. The days of Eden are over and the days of our bondage to sin are numbered. Behold, in Christ God has done something completely new and you are being invited to join in on that. God is inviting you to not only receive this true LOVE, but to extend it to the world and be a part of leading to a place far better than Eden.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

We can never head back to what has been lost, but we can change direction and head toward something far better if we so choose.

PRAYER

Lord, I thank you and praise you for your great intervention in my sinfulness. Lead me to lead others to a place far greater than Eden, to that heavenly Kingdom you have created for us all. Amen.