Lent 1 2026
Collect
Genesis 2: 15-17, 3: 1-7
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’
3Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ 2The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ’ 4But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,* knowing good and evil.’ 6So 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. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
If God didn’t want them to eat from the tree of Knowledge of good and evil, why did He put it there in the first place?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Good questions. In fact, the same question and the same answer. We recognise the qualities of things in terms of opposites. Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. A fierce Tyger and a meek and gentle lamb. Safe things and dangerous things. War and Peace. Why does a loving God allow the possibility of evil? Why not make sure everything is nice and safe all the time?
The answer is that He had to. If we are to appreciate the gentleness of a lamb, we need to know its opposite. If we are to understand what safety is, we need also to experience the possibility of danger. Peace means nothing if war doesn’t exist. If we are to know freedom, we need to know imprisonment. So, if there is to be ‘good’, the existence of ‘evil’ is inevitable.
If we don’t have the ability to choose between the two, we are just puppets with no free will, living in a Utopia we aren’t even aware of. God wants us to be human, with all that humanity entails, good and bad. And that means, painful as it was, He had to let Eve and Adam have the opportunity to decide. In a sense, the serpent was an instrument of God’s intention.
Eve and Adam chose to leave the Garden. They could have stayed. The serpent didn’t force them out – they were simply faced with having to make a moral decision, and they got it wrong. But at least they had that choice.
The ability to choose was a gift. But when they ate the poisoned fruit of human evil, God wasn’t about to desert them. His love extended to a second gift – forgiveness and redemption. It cost Him Himself, on the Cross. When we make choices, let His passion be our guide
Previous Posts
Praying Together 30th August 2026
Just like those early disciples and apostles there’s an important work to continue. You and I are part of that bunch of followers – ordinary people – let’s keep that in mind – as we reach out to others, each and every day of our lives.
Praying Together 23rd August 2026
Cambridge dictionary definition: ‘Conform’ – to behave according to the usual standards of behaviour that are expected by a group or society.
Praying Together 16th August 2026
We share the shame of both if we fail to address the divisive hatred within our own purportedly Christian ‘tribe’ before condemning others. For Scripture also says Judge not lest ye yourself be judged (Matthew 7:1). Jesus Himself makes it clear that hypocrisy has no place in a Kingdom founded upon love.
Praying Together 9th August 2026
Trusting Jesus and obeying His call takes commitment, it takes faith, it takes the courage to face antagonism, discomfort and sometimes suffering.
Praying Together 26th July 2026
Just cling to the promise that neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord
Pray Together 19th July 2026
We define hope as ‘to want something to happen or to be true, and have a good reason to think that it might’.
Praying Together 12th July 2026
But the real task to which godparents promise is to ensure that the newly-baptised are supported in their Christian growth, by prayer, advice and example.
Praying Together 5th July 2026
We obey His command, but not as slaves – instead, he invites us to be willing servants, alongside the freedom to always ask and reason together with Him as we choose our actions. Therein lies the path to Wisdom, and in God’s Wisdom lies gentleness, humility and rest for our souls.
Praying Together 21st June 2026
‘You are of more value than many sparrows.’
Yes perhaps we are – but that doesn’t mean that sparrows have no value at all.
Praying Together 31st May 2026
Throughout the world, greeting one another with a kiss is a standard way of greeting – once, twice or more (four times in some regions of of France.) In our less demonstrative culture, we perhaps tend to ‘Share the peace’ by means of a nod, wave, handshake a hug or sometimes even a kiss itself in order to respect what we understand as the boundaries of a person’s ‘personal space’.
Praying Together 17th May 2026
‘Somethin’s comin’, don’t know what it is, but it is gonna be great’
Praying Together 10th May 2026
This week I offer a report of our Archbishop John’s Introductory address to this week’s General Synod. It speaks for itself. I wish certain political leaders would read it too.