Given November 2, 2010

When God planned the Garden of Eden and His future with mankind, He placed in the center of the garden, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, (Genesis 2:9).  He gave Adam and Eve full control over the garden and everything in it and the earth but He said of that tree, “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17).  God placed in man a free will; Adam and Eve could make their own decisions and do whatever they wanted just as we can.  He did not want His creation to blindly serve Him without having a choice because if you force someone to follow you they are not really with you.  Harold Hubert said, “Leaders don’t force people to follow—they invite them on a journey.”  So we get the point, Adam and Eve had a choice as we do.

God wanted Adam and Eve, and us, to get their knowledge only from Him and not another source, which for them was that tree.  But, as we know, they exercised their free will to experiment with gaining their knowledge from another source.  Bad decision!  We know that after their “knowledge awakining” they, “heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day”, (Genesis 3:8), and they hid.  God called out to them and Adam said they were hiding because they were naked.  Then God replied, “Who told you that you were naked?” (v. 11).  God wasn’t really asking because He didn’t know, He knew…He always knows.  “Who told you?”  “Where did you get your knowledge that you were naked?”  And we say, “Eve, how could you fall for Satan’s lie?”  “Adam, why did you go along?”  “You all had it made in the shade!”  God wanted His creation to only get their knowledge from Him but He gave them a choice.

In our world, have you ever heard these things: “I can’t do that.”, “I’m never going to be anything.”, “Me, do that, naw.”, “I can’t afford it.”, “I’m never going to be well.”, “It’s too late.”, “I’m too old, young, ugly, fat, dumb, poor, etc..”.  Have you said these things yourself?  Well, God is saying, “Who told you?”  The Word says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13).  Where are we getting OUR knowledge?  Where do we get the limits on our lives?  Who establishes the boundaries for what we can and cannot do?  God is saying, “Get your knowledge from Me and ‘All things are possible to them who believe’, (Mark 9:23).  How about we adjust our curriculum and begin getting our knowledge from the source of all truth?  Who’s with me?