Daily Thoughts

In the P of GP we read about how the serpent beguiled Eve and persuaded her to eat of the forbidden fruit.  Moses 4:5-12 "And now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which I, the Lord God, had made.  And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world. And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said—Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the serpent.)  And the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;  But of the fruit of the tree which thou beholdest in the midst of the garden, God hath said—Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die;  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it became pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make her wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and also gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat."

In the New Testament we read Jesus' prayer for His followers.  He had given them God's word, and the world had hated them because of it.  Jesus was not of the world and neither are those who choose to follow Him.  He prayed not that His disciples should be taken out of the world, but rather that they would be kept from the evil of the world.  In other words, we need to live in the world, but not be of the world.  Sometimes I think some people live so much of their lives in cyberspace that they are of the world, but not in the world!  In any case, we are to keep ourselves from the evils of worldly things while still living in the world and doing whatever we can to let our lights shine in a darkened world.  John 17:14-15 "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

Speaking about light, a verse with a thought booklet tells us that the Lord will be our everlasting Light and cause our mourning to end. What a wonderful message of hope, knowing that our grief can give way to the joy of God's everlasting Light.  Isaiah 60:20 "Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."