Genesis 2:15-17
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it
and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must
not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you
eat from it you will certainly die.”
After God
gave his directives and created man, he placed him in the Garden of Eden – a true
paradise – to work the garden and take care of it (remember, he gave him the
authority to rule over creation.)
He then told
him he could eat from any tree in the garden except the one of the knowledge of
good and evil – that one would kill him.
God right then gave man a choice of choosing to obey or not. And we still have that choice today. We obey and we live, we choose not to obey
and we die. It’s that simple.
God only
wants us for himself, not because he’s rude or arrogant, but because he is the embodiment
of that which his good, and by living in His presence we too experience all
that he is – the good and the holy and the blessings – they’re all ours. But he gave man the will to make this choice…or
not.
And we know
that he chooses to disobey, and all of creation suffers because of it.
Disobedience is
an evil thing. It brings about
consequences. When our children disobey,
they are disciplined and set on course again, so that they can see the blessing
that comes from obeying their parents.
God is a
perfect parent. A perfect Creator. And he
knows what is best for us to thrive, to live, and to experience his
goodness.
He sets
before us His way or our ways. It’s our
choice. One way leads to life eternal,
and the other to certain death.
I want to
walk in His presence and realize He’s enough and more than able to meet all of
my needs, without me venturing off to test him to see if he will slap my hand…or
not. Sometimes it’s hard to obey and
stay next to Him, and that’s why his hand of mercy always draws us back to his
side, just like a loving father brings a disobedient and repentant child to his
chest to restore him in love…
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