Genesis 2:5-14 (ESV)

When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

God could have created man by snapping His fingers, or by speaking, or any other way He desired, but instead He formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Why?

Note that there are two facts here. He chose to create man from the dust of the ground and He chose to tell us that. God wants us to know we were created from dust. God is telling us that we’re made of the same stuff that everything else is made of. Like so many things in the Bible, it’s there to humble us. He doesn’t want the “created in God’s image” thing to go to our heads.

Our egos are big enough already. Imagine how much worse they’d be without this check.

So, were you able to figure out which of the seven deadly sins is your “signature” sin? I could only narrow it down to four. Fortunately, my wife was able to instantly discern which one I should pick.

Thanks, dear.

OK, this is supposed to be painful.

It was.

Through prayer, and maybe with the help of another Christian, narrow it down to just one. If that job isn’t done, ask God to help you identify your “one.”

Then the prayer request shifts. We don’t have the power to cure sin. At best we can cover up the symptoms and reduce the impact on others.

But real progress comes through the Holy Spirit. Lift up your signature sin to Him and ask for help.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies