The Choice

Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. - Genesis 2:16-17


I watched as a young mother tried to get her 2-year-old child to make a choice. "You can have fish or chicken," she told him. She limited his choice to just two because he was too young to understand beyond that. Choice often allows a wider variety of options, and it also must allow the person to reject the choices.

Adam and Eve were in the best possible environment. God had given them freedom to eat of all the trees in Eden. He drew the boundary lines aroung only one tree! They had a choice, and it should have been a no-brainer to choose wisely. But their choice was tragic.

Some blame God for what they see as His restrictions. They may even accuse Him of trying to control their lives. But God gives us a choice, just as He did Adam and Eve.

Yes, God draws boundary lines, but they are for our protection. David understood this. He wrote, "You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies... I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your Word" (Ps. 119-98-101).

God cares so much about us that He gives us boundary lines so that we will choose what is right. - C. P. Hia


Lord, help us to obey Your Word,
To heed Your still, small voice;
And may we not be swayed by men,
But make Your will our choice. - D. De Haan

God's commandments were given to fulfill us, not to frustrate us.

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Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-8

Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die."

Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Yes, has God said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" The woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a deligt to the eyes, and htat the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit of it, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Both of their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked. The sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the tree of the garden.

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True Freedom can only be found within God's boundary...