Devotion: The Greatest Controversy

By: Feston Konzani

“The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise.  So she took some of the fruit and ate it.  Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it” Genesis 3:6 (Good News Bible)

How did all these things get here?  First, the tree was seen (the lust of the eyes) then the mind got engaged – she thought how wonderful it would be to be…. and finally, she took action.

These three things took place chronologically. She saw – she thought – she took action then the results followed.

What she saw made her think and what she thought ended up being her action. Indeed, as it is written “as a man thinketh in his heart so is he”. And here we see the truthfulness of the words that were once spoken by the great wise man Solomon when he wrote “There is a way that seems right for a man but in the end it is death and destruction.

How many of us have fallen into this trap?  Our very lives are a testimony of the reality of this great truth.  How at first, it all looked like a good thing, a good idea, a good deal, a good woman or man, a good job or career move etc.  But finally when the dust settled, all it brought us was nothing but pain and misery.

The worst of all the miseries and pain being the fact that we found ourselves drawn away from God and the Godly principles for living. The woman enticed by the lust of the eyes or flesh, the mind reacted and the results were nowhere near the anticipated expectations. James elsewhere wrote, “For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But people are tempted when they are drawn away and trapped by their own evil desires.  Then their evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15 (Good News Bible)

So there are times when all of man’s decisions may look good, feel good, look good even sounds good but how can anyone know what is good unless one has an accurate idea, a full grasp and a complete understanding of pure goodness or unless he himself is indeed good?

Left to his own devices, man has tried in vain to understand what it means to be free and under no one’s control. Yet unknowingly, he had already placed himself under the control of a very cruel master. Defining freedom, knowledge and independence in their truest sense has proved ever since to be impossible. He continued to dig himself deeper and deeper in the quagmire of existence still believing that he can be free without God.

There is indeed a way that seems right in man’s eyes but the end is death and destruction. The Bible says, “Who can understand the human heart? There is nothing else so deceitful; it is too sick to be healed.” Jeremiah 17:7 (Good News Bible)

Such was how the heart turned out to be when man decided to listen to a lie in the Garden of Eden.  Ever since, wars have been fought and continue to be fought over the elusive idea of ‘freedom’. However, the discrepancies in the very definition of ‘freedom’ means there are and always will be disagreements on the ‘just war theory’.

This is because when two opposing sides stand against each other across a chasm caused by their definitions of what each is standing for.

Each will justify their reason for going to war by explaining away their own reason and why they feel it is right for them to fight or defend their so-called ‘freedoms’.  These differences are the result of human minds that treat good and bad, truth and a lie as relative.  For from the very beginning of time and throughout eternity, God did not treat anything as relative. He has and will always have absolutes because he himself is absolute. For this reason He never regarded anything as peripheral.

True freedom is not the absence conflict but rather the lack of the presence of the cause for conflict will always be lurking in the shadows of human existence. While a relative peace may prevail for a season but sooner or later conflict will raise its ugly head breaking through all man-made conflict resolution barriers.  No matter how hard and how many attempts that are made, written or otherwise in trying to deal with conflict, when it has risen it has risen, the truest source and cause cannot be fully dealt with by using any man-made ideas. The deceitful heart of man is the true cause and how can any man-made solution deal with this or change the deceitfulness of a human heart?

Try to imagine emptying all of the oceans’ waters in a single cup or filling all of the earth’s soil into one bag, if that can be done or possible. It is absolutely absurd to even begin to think of the possibility or impossibility of the whole idea or imagination. It is beyond the unthinkable and the unimaginable.  Every human heart is in a conflict of and with itself without the presence of any other person. So what would happen if you were to bring these hearts together?

When these hearts that are already in conflict within themselves are brought together, all you can achieve is the magnification and multiplication of the conflicts.  That is why even a resolution is made, sooner or later, the same is broken and similar if not worse conflict arises.  This is because the human heart which is the truest cause and root of conflict has not been fully dealt with.  This is the greatest controversy!!!

The only two proved and tested ways to kill a tree is by either destroying the root which is feeding the already growing tree.  It is possible to try and take the easy way out by destroying the leaves or even cutting off the branches and although for a while this may stop the tree’s progress but you can be sure that sooner or later, it will blossom again.  This is simply because the cause has for its existence has not been dealt with. The second way is by destroying the seed from which the tree will begin its purpose for its existence.

The deceitful heart is the seed and root for any evil and conflict. This conflict, deceitfulness and high-mindedness was and has been but will continue to be the result of pride and has its true origin in Lucifer-that fallen angel commonly known as satan.  It all started when pride took overall control of one of one of the highly esteemed and respected angel in heaven itself.  It was and continues to be between God the creator and man’s carnality.  It is a conflict between the absolute and the relative. It is not a matter or question of relativism but rather of reality.

In more ways than one, the case is between the purity of all goodness and the worst of all evil.  Man is and always will be under the control of   someone, something or everything. We hear of people saying, “I don’t want to get married because I value my independence”. What a self made lie? The reality is that no one – not even one – is truly and wholly independent and can or shall be such. The reason is that there is a reality of inter-dependency ingrained in anything, everything and anyone.  Freedom in its truest sense is and will become present when a human heart has been fully transformed.  Independence comes by depending on something or someone who  or which has your very best of interest as the sole purpose for existence.

The only thing and person capable of meeting these requirements is GOD- The immortal, invisible, the only wise Alpha and Omega.  Nothing else has, is and will never be equal to him.  David realized this truth hence he wrote among other things “Your loving kindness is better than life”.