When it’s Better not to Know

And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. Ecclesiastes 1:17.
Adam and Eve both ate of the fruit, and obtained a knowledge which, had they obeyed God, they would never have had,—an experience in disobedience and disloyalty to God,—the knowledge that they were naked. The garment of innocence, a covering from God, which surrounded them, departed; and they supplied the place of this heavenly garment by sewing together fig-leaves for aprons.
This is the covering that the transgressors of the law of God have used since the days of Adam and Eve’s disobedience…. The fig-leaves represent the arguments used to cover disobedience….
But the nakedness of the sinner is not covered….
Had Adam and Eve never disobeyed their Creator, had they remained in the path of perfect rectitude, they could have known and understood God. But when they listened to the voice of the tempter, and sinned against God, the light of the garments of heavenly innocence departed from them; and in parting with the garments of innocence, they drew about them the dark robes of ignorance of God. The clear and perfect light that had hitherto surrounded them had lightened everything they approached; but deprived of that heavenly light, the posterity of Adam could no longer trace the character of God in His created works.
If Adam and Eve had never touched the forbidden tree, the Lord would have imparted to them knowledge,—knowledge upon which rested no curse of sin, knowledge that would have brought them everlasting joy….
Age after age, the curiosity of men has led them to seek for the tree of knowledge; and often they think they are plucking fruit most essential, when, like Solomon’s research, they find it altogether vanity and nothingness in comparison with that science of true holiness which will open to them the gates of the city of God. The human ambition has been seeking for that kind of knowledge that will bring to them glory and self-exaltation and supremacy. Thus Adam and Eve were worked upon by Satan.
Conflict and Courage p. 17
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Prayer Requests
—–Please pray for me I have an appointment the 19th at a specialist’s office for my back and legs. Please pray that the specialist will have wisdom to know what to do to get me well again. Eileen
—– Please pray for my daughter Jennifer. She had been in MICU since Mon. Moved to room yesterday. Please pray for her spirit, soul and body and all her needs. My sister, Kay has been staying with me and taking care of me. Now she is in need of prayer. Her neck is hurting so bad and she has been having headaches. Faye
—– Heidi is a young mother with 4 young children .. she has been battling cancer . then last week she ended up in the hospital with blood clots in her lungs. now she had a stroke and can’t talk so she is in surgery at the moment. even so come Lord Jesus. put an end to all of the suffering in this world. M.
—–Please pray for me that I will get the job God wants me to have. JT
—— Please pray for my grandson Chase. He is very sick, throwing up and aching all over. He is going to ER. Faye
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Dear Friends,
The other day Brian and I were talking about Christmas when we were children. What a time of wonder Christmastime was for me when I was a child. We always had a huge tree that would reach nearly to the ceiling and my grandparents lived in a house with very tall ceilings! I always went with my mother when she would pick out the tree. She would spend a lot of time looking for a perfectly shaped one. She was an artist and only a perfectly proportioned tree would suit her. Then we would drag it home through the snow.
When the ornaments were brought from the attic, where they had been stored all year, I would admire each one. I was not allowed to touch them as they were very old, but I would stand there and look. I spent hours studying each item that had been placed on that tree. They do not make Christmas decorations like those any more. There were glass bells painted with scrollwork of various colors, balls glitter painted with many designs, delicate ornaments shaped like birds, candles, street lights, icecicles, and snowflakes. My mother would carefully arrange them all until the tree became a work of art under her artistic hand.
As I think of the delight I had looking at those Christmas ornaments, I think of the delight we should get reading God’s Holy Word. Think of it! We have in our hands a letter from the Creator of the Universe! He has put everything in its pages that we need to know in order to obtain salvation. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deut 29:29 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” 1 Cor 15:1,2 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15
Jesus tells us, “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39 From the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation the love of God is revealed. We read of the One Who was willing to give “his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 We learn of a Saviour “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil 2:6-8
As we read God’s Word over and over again, we discover new things that we had not noticed before. Truths that were always there, but the Holy Spirit waits until we are ready to receive them before He drives them home to our mind. We experience the truth of the parable Jesus taught, “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” Matt 13:52 The Bible is God’s voice speaking of His love and care for us! What joy we have as the Holy Spirit instructs us in the way of the Lord!
May we take even greater delight over each discovery He reveals to us in His Holy Word than I did over those Christmas ornaments of long ago.
Rose