Ever think about the tree in the garden of Eden? The one Adam & Eve weren’t supposed to eat from.
It was called The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The tree itself was not evil. There was nothing wicked about it. If it was, then that means God would have created something evil, right? But this was at the very beginning of creation (Genesis 2:17) when everything was perfect because sin had not yet entered the world. So the tree was perfect, just like Adam & Eve and everything else in the world at that time.
So why did God put the tree there? He told them that they could eat from every tree in the garden except that one ……. but why?
Some might say: it seems pretty cruel to put something there & then tell them not to touch it or eat from it. Why would a loving God do that, if He knows they are weak and will probably fall into the temptation to eat from it?
I’ve thought about this before and it kinda made me wonder! I mean, why would He do this?? Did He want them to mess up?? Did He think they wouldn’t mess up?? Did He think they would be able to resist the temptation??
Here’s the truth – our God is SO amazingly wonderful & SO loving that He does not make anyone love Him or worship Him. If He had created humans and made us worship Him, it wouldn’t be true worship, would it?
He is not going to make us worship Him. He desires our worship (and certainly deserves it) but He gives us our own free will to choose to worship Him. He wants true worship. He wants people to follow Him because they want to. The purpose of the tree was to provide man with a choice: to love and serve God willingly or to reject Him.
So when you really think about it, it isn’t cruel at all. It’s pure LOVE that makes God do what He does🥺 It’s His overwhelming desire to have a relationship with us that gives us this choice. He knows that not everyone will choose to have a relationship with Him and follow Him, but He allows each of us to decide.
A question for all of us ~ Will you choose to worship a God who loves you immensely? He loves you so much that He gave up His Son to be sacrificed for your sins. It definitely produces worship in me. It makes me want to thank Him & praise Him for all that He has done for me. The one thing I am most thankful for is my salvation – salvation that can only come from the God who created us 🤍
Following Jesus, exploring His Creation 