The Most Expensive Meal In History Series

OPEN: A few years back George Beane of Palmdale, California, stopped at a local Burger King and ordered 4 sandwiches at the drive-through window. Total cost of his bill: $4.33. However, when he handed the girl at the drive up window his debit card she absent mindedly punched in the numbers ... and then punched them in again without erasing the original ones - creating a total bill of $4,334.33.

He signed the slip without checking it... and the charge went through to George’s checking account leaving him penniless.

The newspapers got ahold of the story and billed the incident as "The most expensive meal in history."

(Alan Smith 6/4/06)

Now that’s probably not true. There have been "more expensive" meals in history than that one. I have read of rich people in New York and Los Angeles who’ve paid far more than that for an evening on the town. But no matter what meal a rich person might buy, the cost of what they’d purchase pales in comparison to one of the most expensive meal in history - the one we’re reading about today.

It cost more than Adam and Eve ever wanted to pay. And it literally bankrupted them.

And the sad thing is - it wasn’t even the best food on the menu. The Bible tells us that God gave Adam and Eve every tree to eat from except one, and Genesis tell us there were plenty of other GOOD trees to eat from.

“And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground— trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food." Genesis 2:9a

So if that was true (that they’d had all these other trees to eat from), then why did they do it?

It would be easy to say “The Devil made them do it”... but it’s more than that.

They picked the wrong item on the menu because they CHOSE to do so.

Eve CHOSE to disobey God.

Now Satan may have “talked her into it...” but SHE KNEW what God had said.

She knew God didn’t want her to eat of the tree.

She knew God had said that those who ate of the tree faced death.

But she CHOSE to eat of the tree anyway.

She made bad choices.

And her first choice occurred before Satan even spoke a word.

Satan said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’" Genesis 3:1b-3

What did God say she couldn’t do? (EAT of the fruit)

What does Eve say God said she couldn’t do? (EAT & TOUCH the fruit)

God didn’t say she couldn’t touch the tree, He just said they couldn’t eat.

But she CHOSE to add that little restriction.

She CHOSE to add to God’s commandments.

She CHOSE to improve on God’s will.

And that was all the wiggle room Satan needed to begin playing with her mind.

Why would that give Satan “wiggle room”?

Because once you get used to the idea that you can improve on God’s Word... when you believe you can change it when you want to... when you accept that you can tinker with God’s will for your life... then it gets easier to improve on other things God commanded.

Once you get used to “improving” on God’s word you can end up being the final arbiter/ the ultimate judge of what is acceptable and unacceptable in what God says. That’s just plain wrong.

Now how do I know that this is wrong? Because Jesus said so.

Jesus said: “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:9 ESV

In other words – once you or I get used to accepting “improvements” on God’s commands (the commandments of men) our worship becomes vain. Another word for “vain” is “empty”, “worthless”. Adding to God’s Word can make our worship worthless!!

Now, why would God be so adamant about opposing these “improvements”? Because - the only way we can deal with the trials and temptations of this life is by clinging to the PURE and unadulterated word of God.

ILLUS: It’s like taking medicine.

If you go to your doctor and he gives you a prescription, you then take it to the pharmacist who will fill it and give you instructions on how that medicine should be taken. If you follow those instructions you should get satisfactory results. But if you add to his prescription you might end up with dangers.