We all have choices to make every day. God designed us to be able to make a choice. It’s called “free will.” As you can see in society, there are choices that men and women make every day. Those decisions are either right or wrong. That is determined by the rules you follow, those are usually set down by the society you live in. Even tribes in remote areas have a moral code they live by. Morality is defined as principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behavior. If you look at the morality of most of society you will find that they are based on the Bible. The laws concerning murder, stealing, and many others, are based on Biblical truths. However, because of man’s determination to do things his own way we have moved far away from God’s way. The morality of today is based on what man sees as right or wrong. This kind of thinking infected Adam when he chose to sin.
In the beginning, God gave Adam the freedom to choose to obey or disobey. God did not make us robots, he gave us the freedom to chose to love and obey, or go our own way and disobey Him.
In Genesis 2:15-17 God is giving Adam instructions on how to take care of His creation. I love the way the commentator Albert Barnes expresses it. “The same omnipotent hand that made him still held him. And put him into the garden. Adam was to dress it and to keep it.” Adam was to take care of all that God had made for him. Even in the beginning, work was expected of mankind. Adam was to be a good steward of what God had provided for him. We are also to be good stewards of all that God has provided. We should take care of our things and seek to fix what we break. However, most would rather use, abuse, work a few more hours, and buy another one.
Genesis 2:15-17 “And the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
When God placed Adam in the garden, everything that Adam would need for an abundant life was already there. He only gave him one restriction, a restriction that would test his love for God. He would have a choice. He could show his love by obeying, or he could disobey and do what he desired. This not only would show a lack of love for God, but it would also show a lack of trust. True love is based on trust. Adam trusting God seems natural to us. After all, God had made him and given him everything. He should have looked around and been so grateful. His gratitude should have excited an overwhelming love that warranted obedience. However, Adam and Eve yielded to temptation and disobeyed God. They set the wheels in motion that would result in death. Before the fall, man would have lived forever. It would have been literally, Heaven on earth.
As we ponder what happened, it is hard for us to understand Adam and Eve’s choice, but before we are too hard on them let’s look at our own lives. How often do we do things that we know God is not pleased with? We make choices all day long, and so many of them are strictly for our own pleasure. We ignore the Holy Spirit when he prompts us to speak to someone. We pass by the opportunity to help someone when we are in a hurry, and we skip our prayer time and Bible reading because other things are more important to us at the time. How are we different from Adam? We made a choice in each situation to obey or disobey God. We put up excuses, but ultimately, we are sinning. When God tells us to do something and we don’t, we are not exhibiting a true love for God. Remember, true love is based on trust. When we determine what we will do, based on what we reason in our minds, rather than what God says, we are just like Adam. When was the last time you thought you needed to do something, that you thought was best for a Christian, yet, you reasoned in your mind that you could not change? You chose the comfortable route because you couldn’t see clearly how everything would work. My friend, that is a lack of trust, and that kind of rationalizing is sin. We are guilty just like Adam.
Our goal in life should be to study God’s word and obey it. Our choices should never be based on what is comfortable or convenient. I think Joshua made it very clear when he told the Israelites to make up their mind about who they would serve. Stop trying to have the world and God too. Just trust Him. It’s your choice.
Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Excellent