You've heard the saying, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me"?

History tends to repeat itself, and we study history, and keep a record of it ...so we don't repeat our mistakes.  A responsible person often admits that mistakes repeated are their fault ..."I should have known better!"

But, we have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again.  And there are those who find opportunity, pleasure, and gratification with that fact.  I say, shame on them for tricking us over and over again.  And I'm thankful for friends and family who tolerate my continual mishaps.  But, I'm foremost relieved that I am forgiven by my Lord, who sees every failure to every degree.

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Don't many of us today also get confused about this same concept of death ....not fully understanding; and with our imperfect faith, not relying on Whom we should place our trust in??

The Bible speaks of the wages of sin ...being death.  And sin is separation from God.  We damage our relationship with Him, with this separation.  Yet, if we feel the separation and not desire it, it can draw us closer ...and we may not stray as far.

Just as our bodies deteriorate with age, our spirit can also deteriorate ...but it shouldn't with age.  Shouldn't our relationship with Him get stronger as we mature and grow older...that is, it should if the growth of our spirit more closer coincides with His Spirit.

And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh ..."

I once told a story of a friend of mine getting a plant from a friend. He told her he wasn't very good with plants. She said the plant was already in good soil, and all he had to do is place it in the sun and water it whenever he thought of her.

The next time she visits him, she notices the plant is dead. She is saddened by the fact, but tries not to show her true hurt, "I guess you were right ...when you said you weren't very good with plants.  But, it doesn't really take much ...just a little nourishing."

She doesn't want to reveal the hurt she feels ...having told him to just water it every time he thought of her.  

He says, "Well, sometimes it's not a good thing."

She fights back the tears, realizing that she obviously cares more about him than he does about her, "What do you mean by that?"

He senses the emotion in her question, and answers matter-of-factly, "Well, for instance, the plant you gave me.  I drowned it."

Life may seem like a delicate thing, and it is filled with love, yet it is also a bit matter-of-fact. Death is not an absolute end ...it is only the end of our life's choices. Sin is separation from God, but God forgives us and draws us back. Sin is not an end, Jesus put an end to our having to be punished for our sin. Jesus became our direction in life. Without accepting Jesus, He is not our direction ...and the separation becomes more defined. It is defined by whether we accept Jesus, or not ...and it defines where everyone is directed to after they die.

At this point our end is defined ...at death, it's defined where we will 'end' up (or down, as the saying goes). So, we either have eternal death, or eternal life ...but our existence goes on.  That is not an option.  We are eternal creatures, whether we like it, or not. 

 It is preferable that we make the choices that we can live with.