LIFE SCRIPTS

Our actions bear consequences. We must be ready to pay the cost for our consequences. That cost is what we call responsibility. Man had disobeyed God and sinned. Here after God confronted him about his actions, he shifted blame to his wife. When God addressed his wife, she shifted blame to the serpent. There was no ownership of the act. There was no remorse in the heart of man after disobeying God. His style was to justify his wrongdoing by shifting blame. The problem with the blame game is it does not come to an end. It can be an endless trail of accusations and counter accusations. But God in this case was very gracious. Even as man sought to blame woman, He engaged them and sought to know their side of the story. Him being God still came down to their level to understand them. Possibly if man would have accepted that he’s sinned and repented before Him, he would have been forgiven. What’s true about ourselves is that whenever we take any action, whether voluntarily, coerced, tricked or cajoled, we bear responsibility of the consequences of these actions. God desires that we take responsibility of our actions whether they bear good or bad consequences. If the consequences are bad, responsibility leads us back to God saying, ‘I have sinned. Forgive me!’.

There is something striking about whom God addressed. He chose to address man first. When God created man, He conferred to him leadership. We see the kind d of leadership He gave him right after creation: He allowed him to name animals, He gave him dominion and responsibility over His creation, He created a ‘helper’ for him. These leadership responsibilities God had given man were not just for his enjoyment. Time would come when he would be called to account. As scripture says, to them whom much has been entrusted, much will be required. Man as the head of his family was first in the line of fire when God called him to account. This is the high calling God has given man. The calling of ultimate responsibility. It might look tough to handle, too hot to touch, to messy to manage but before God, man equals responsibility. So as men, we must pose and think…what has God granted us? Has He granted family? Has He granted us children (whether born in marriage or out of wedlock)? Has He granted us jobs to do to fend for our dependants as we serve others? Has He granted us eloquence in spoken and written word such that we can move opinions? What has God granted you and I? Remember, He’ll call us to account just as He did for Adam, our forefather.