I have never liked sea food. I used to give my fish sticks (if that can be classified as such) to my sister, secretly wrapped in a napkin. Living in new jersey my father would order the best tasting caecilian pizza. I recall, however to my disgust, he would order it so that half was covered with anchovies. I am not sure, however, if he liked them or if it was his way of preventing us from eating his half of the pizza. I learned as well that everything is not always as it appears, as I once had enjoyed the satisfying flavor of Caesar salad, maturing from the common use of thousand island and despising the taste of blue cheese (yuk). While on a business trip, my coworker and I dined at an upper scale restaurant. As I read the menu the Caesar salad look delicious, but to my surprise and disappointment it came with three tiny fish on top (head and everything). I inquired what is this, as my coworker chuckled at my expense, and the waiter politely responded, “what you ordered sir, Caesar salad, is something wrong?” I have been deceived for years, as my longtime love affair turned to disgust as the fish stared at me. Although I never physically saw them in the past, the secret to the salad’s flavor rests in the saltiness of these tiny fish. That was eight years ago, I have not eaten one since. That is how sin catches us unaware, cloaked in something that is very appealing, only revealing much later the essence of its deceptive and destructive nature. Often far too late, caught in a trap that will not let us go.
Genesis 3:1-6
[1] Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. [4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5] 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. [6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Now if we follow the exactness of the words God spoke to man (Adam), they were thus; And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:16-17). Notice the words "shalt surely die", and what the serpent told the woman (eve), "ye shall not" …; they appear the same, but a simple three letter word, “not,” changes the entirety of its context. "Not"; no matter how insignificant, it is of great consequence as it turned the beauty of what God created upside down and placed the entirety of humanity into chaos. Sin matters, they do not come in differing sizes such as, big, or small, nor are they colored coded such as the oft labeled white lie, as harmless and innocent. I would surmise; however, they are great and small, have lasting and enduring consequences breaking our promised fellowship with God and placing us on a collision course with eternal damnation, without any hope of redemption.
