Doing right in your own eyes

There are at least six scriptures in the Old Testament where a warning is given about doing what is "right in our own eyes." In Proverbs 12:15 we are even told:

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, 

But a wise man is he who listens to counsel."

We always associate these warnings with viewing evil as good and good as evil.  The general viewpoint is at the extremes.

I want to challenge you today that there is a trap in the middle.  A place where we get direction, warning, a word from God about our call, His plans for our life (read Jeremiah 29:11), or our destiny and we try to help it along by adding our own guidance or interpretation.  In helping it along, we actually block or hinder what we are called to do - we make it impossible.

Let's take a new look at the what happened in Eden with the serpent and look at the conversation closely.  We are all so familiar with the story, we read over much of the conversation because we already know what it says - don't we?

In Genesis 2:15-17, God gave instruction to Adam about the garden:

"Then the Lord God took the man and put him 

into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, 

“From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 

but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 

you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”"

Clearly in this scripture, Adam was placed in the garden to "cultivate it and keep it."  While he was instructed not to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil", he was never instructed not to "cultivate it" or "keep it."

Could Adam step fully into what God had directed if he failed to cultivate or keep everything (tree, plant, animal, bird, etc) in the garden?

Now let's look at the conversation with the serpent in Genesis 3:1-3:

"Now the serpent was more crafty 

than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. 

And he said to the woman, 

“Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, 

“From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 

but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, 

God has said, 

‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”"

When confronted about the direction/word of God by the serpent: 'Did He really say?'  I want to look closely at Eve's response - let's set the two scriptures next to each other:

Genesis 2:17 "you shall not eat...you will surely die."

Genesis 3:3 "You shall not eat from it or touch it...you will die."

I suppose there is some logic that says, if I don't "touch it" then I will not be tempted to "eat it."  So I take the direction of God and add what would seem right in my own eyes ("don't touch it") so I am even better off.  Maybe I am more righteous because I did not "touch it."

In that logic is the problem, what was the direction or call on Adam's life?  Lets look at Genesis 2:15 again:

"Then the Lord God took the man and 

put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it."

Can you cultivate or keep a thing if you do not touch it?  Or, how do you steward what God gave you if you do not touch it?

Is this the first appearance of a Spirit of Religion?  Is this the way a Spirit of Religion operates?  We add our own little rules to help God's word along and inhibit our ability to perform His word - to steward what we have been assigned.

Right here watch out for other spirits that will jump in and say - Yes you can!

Was there a Spirit of Religion already operating in the Garden of Eden that opened a door to the accusation of the serpent?  Notice that the serpent in asking the question only asked about 'eating':

“Indeed, has God said,

‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Yet Eve answered with 'if you touch it you will die'.

Our flesh loves to be told what to do - to follow rules and the Spirit of Religion is more than willing to provide a full handbook of rules.

Beverley Watkins says this in her book Met.a.noi.a (click here for Beverley's website) when talking about the 'house of religion', "It's all about what you do for your Father in this house.  Never about who you are or who you are called to be.  As long as you obey all the rules, you will be puffed up with pride at your own spirituality."

The endgame of this Spirit of Religion is to keep you from your destiny that Jesus died to give you and your descendants.

I challenge you to go back and measure your personal rules against the Bible and your call.  Are you and your rules the biggest obstacle to your destiny and the destiny of your descendants? Be brutally honest!

Now - don't beat yourself up - just repent and move on!