The Antidote

God painted a picture and called it the world

With mountains, valleys and streams

God painted a picture and called the world

With beauty, laughter and dreams           

Splashes of yellow, purple and red

Tinged with gold and green

A glorious rainbow, a sunset of flame

Flowers and trees serene.

A baby’s smile, a mother tear,

A lovers happy thought

And many other wondrous things

Were on His canvas wrought

God painted a picture and called it the world

With mountains, valleys and streams

He gave it to man, saying “This is your world,

Guard it with love and humility.

Keep faith with Me and humanity

Keep faith with Me….keep faith with Me”

(Attributed to Florence Tarr)

God painted a beautiful picture and gifted it to us to treasure and nourish and be part of His pleasure. Everything changes in Genesis 3. Satan enters desecrates the God’s beautiful painting with “You can do anything”, with spray paint. One word, NO, from God was twisted to convince Eve that God does not have their best in mind and holding out on them.

“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Gen 3:6).

Where was Adam in this critical moment? Where was Adam when his wife was being tempted by Satan? The Bible tells us that he was right there “with her”. He passively stood there while his wife was under attack by Satan. In a moment when he could have spoken up and stepped into the situation and acted courageously to protect his wife, he just stood there with his manhood pants down forgetting God’s command in Genesis 2:16, which was given to him before Eve was made from the rib taken from him.

Since then men have been living in Adam’s shadow.  Rather than being strong dads and loving husbands, men often just stand there. Why is it that so many men are so decisive, focused, and effective in areas of life that don’t really matter but are tentative, uninspiring, and passive in some of the areas that matter most? Has passivity gotten into our DNA? This needs a good fight else we will default to being passive.

Where does passivity reign? At home? Or with money? Or at work? Or with wife? Why nothing’s being done when something needs to be done? Why silence when one should be speaking up?

There is hope; there are promises (Genesis 3:15), and there is healing in the promised saviour who ultimately came to earth for our rescue. Jesus is the antidote for our passivity. Real men reject passivity and refuse to live in the shadow of Adam but fight for what truly matters. This season, as we celebrate His coming to us, may we draw strength and courage from Him to say NO to the charms of this world and its god.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”