Happy New Year!
Scripture: Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Observation: What I noticed in these verses is what might look like a contradiction -- especially to the human side of our understanding. God says to Adam, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden.." Then he says, "but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil..." Doesn't this sound contradictory? "You are free to eat from any tree" -- then... "don't eat from that tree!" My human understanding says that God must be confused or inconsistent here.
Application: But what we are really seeing is God teaching Adam (and us) about true freedom. We mistakenly think that freedom means having the ability and right to do everything and anything we please. But apparently, that's not God's definition. God's kind of freedom has some boundaries -- restrictions indeed, but not designed to limit or restrict the benefits of the experience. Rather, these boundaries are for the purpose of actually enhancing and maximizing the benefits of the experience. These boundaries also require submission to an authority (in this case, God himself), and I would suggest that every freedom comes with some kind of boundary and some kind of authority that I must acknowledge and submit to. If I fail to do this, my exercise of the freedom is an abuse and ultimately destructive to myself and others.
The freedom that God gave to Adam was the greatest freedom that any human has every experienced. One simple boundary and the rest is available. By violating this one boundary, he imposed a sentence upon himself (and the rest of humanity) of limitless and grievous boundaries and bondages -- and incalculable damage. When we fail to embrace and submit to appropriate boundaries and authorities, we follow Adam into destructiveness and limitation. Ironically, by rejecting limits, we have imposed the greatest limitations upon ourselves and others imaginable.
Prayer: Lord, help us to learn this lesson about true freedom: that only by surrendering and submitting to you can we experience the fullness of what life has to offer. Help us to see that the path of "no boundaries" is a wide path that leads to destruction.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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