Choices

"The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.... Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.'" -Genesis 2.8-9, 15-17

God makes man, and then God creates a place for Him. God plants a garden, and out of the ground He causes every fruit bearing tree to grow. I've shared that I garden, or rather try to. One of my ambitions in life is to get a piece of land and plant as much variety as I can. Currently on my little half acre I have apples, plums, gogi berries, raspberries, blue berries, pine berries, strawberries, peaches and pawpaws, not bad, but nothing compared to what I'm longing to be able to do. I hope the plans I have are able to come to fruition, but even if they do, they will pale in comparison to God's garden. Imagine the variety of fruit in God's garden, there were fruits there that don't exist anymore. Imagine the taste of fruit that had never been touched by sin. God made a paradise for man, and He placed man in it with the charge to take care of it.

God gave man an amazing place to live, provided for His every need, and entrusted it to His care. He lays out a path for man to walk, and that plan is perfect. But God is not a tyrannical dictator, He doesn't force man to walk this path, He gives him a choice.

In the garden God puts every fruit bearing plant, and among them are two specific trees, the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good an evil. God gives man the rule of the garden with one simple rule, don't eat from this one tree. Man had the entire garden to live in, he didn't ever have to go near the one forbidden tree, but it had to be there. God made man with the ability to freely choose, so that man could freely choose to love Him. Love that has no other option isn't real love. If there is only one choice, the choice is meaningless. It is only with options that a decision has meaningful significance.

God could have forced man to follow and obey Him. He could have given man no option to choose anything but Him, but that is not the character of God. God forces no one, He gives them a choice, and tells them the result of each decision, and man is free to decide which path to take. God boldly gives man the ability to reject Him, so that choosing Him is genuine, and the blessings of that choice are more fully enjoyable.

God allows man to choose.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

Peace be with you