"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)
We must know all that God wants us to eat. We must also know what God does not want us to eat. Right there in Eden, the pleasant place, there was a tree that Adam was forbidden to eat. In the abundance of hundreds of fruit trees, there was one single tree that was forbidden.
God gave Man options. He gave the option to eat freely of all that was available and the option to leave just one tree alone. It was the tree that God allowed in the garden to test Man. But it was a very fair test; it was a test that was actually weighted to Man’s advantage. It was not a one to one test; it was not a fifty-fifty test. It was like taking an objective test with a thousand possible right answers and only one possible wrong answer.
The truth is that although God wants us to enjoy so much in life, there are limitations to what is right for us to enjoy. There are restrictions in our walk with God. There are boundaries He wants us to observe. There are places we can go to and places we cannot go. There are things we can allow into our lives and things we should not allow into our lives. In all such instances, what He wants us to enjoy freely is more meaningful than what He wants us to abstain from eating.
He gives us so much and only tests us with the least. Whether in financial stewardship or marital fidelity, God gives us so much to enjoy and only requests a fraction of faithfulness. The fruits of righteousness that we can freely partake of are far more than the fruits of sin that He wants to keep from us.
Take a good look at the garden of your life. In the midst of all the blessings God has given you, watch out for that which He has not given you and stay out of its way.
