INCLINATION
When I was in lower-middle school, the subject I liked the most was history. I love studying history because I can learn about past societies and how they have changed, as well as their accomplishments and mistakes. Most important, knowing history helps me to be a better person because it guides me in making good decisions.
I learned a great deal about history while pursuing my college studies; I majored in ministerial training with a major in Religion and a minor in history. One of the most compelling history books I enjoy reading is the biblical book of Genesis, in which the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created is written. On the last day of the Creation week, God made a man, Adam, and Adam’s wife, Eve, and put them in the garden eastward in Eden. God said to Adam and Eve that they could freely eat of all the trees of the garden except one: the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This was a command—compulsory and not optional. God told them that if they ate of that tree, they would die. Then comes the sad part of this history: the mistakes Adam and Eve then made. They ate the forbidden fruit, they transgressed God’s law, and they disobeyed God’s command.
By nature, people’s INCLINATION is to ignore God and not listen to Him. Even before the Fall that was true. Eve listened to the serpent instead of listening to God. Her INCLINATION was to disregard God’s authority, even though she was aware of God’s firm rule. Genesis 3:6 says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (NKJV). Sin then entered the world.
Irish statesman Edmund Burke is often misquoted as having said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Spanish philosopher George Santayana is accurately credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”; while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” (see https://liberalarts.vt.edu/magazine/2017/history-repeating.html).
The underlining principle of the above statements is “to learn from history, remember the past, and never repeat its mistakes.” We learn from Eve’s mistake and INCLINATION; we remember the consequences and horrible results that humankind, God’s nonhuman creatures, and the earth itself have suffered throughout world history because of Eve’s INCLINATION to disobey God. Let’s not repeat her mistake. Don’t repeat this history. Instead, let’s keep ourselves in line with God’s words and be faithful to His laws and commands.
Ellen White wrote, “Every Christian must stand on guard continually, watching every avenue of the soul where Satan might find access. He must pray for divine help and at the same time resolutely resist every INCLINATION to sin. By courage, by faith, by persevering toil, he can conquer. But let him remember that to gain the victory Christ must abide in him and he in Christ.”—The Adventist Home, p. 403 (emphasis supplied).
My friends, lessons from the past can provide insights into the present and the future, so make the right decision for yourselves, gain victory, be a winner, and be a champion for Christ!
Hiskia Missah
Editor
