Good morning…
Sometimes we forget what God said first to us-humans: “You are free to eat of any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17, NIV). What is the one deadly thing we are told not to eat? The knowledge of what is good and the knowledge of what is evil. This “good versus evil” knowledge is kept off limits from people as it grows in the center of a peaceful, protected patch, carefully cared for by the the Creator of our universe.
Right away God’s crafty competitor slithers onto the scene: “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5, NIV). Do you sense God’s enemy scoffing? “You will not die,” which means God is a liar. “This stingy God is keeping from you something delicious,” which sets off our FOMA response, our obsessive fear of missing out. “Of course, you want to open your eyes, to be like God, to know good from evil.” Really, do we really? Prone to polarize, people draw self-protective lines, dividing, categorizing, segregating, “You are good.” “You are evil.”
From the beginning of time, the “knowledge of good and evil” is designed to live in the mind of our LORD alone. Today, will we trust and obey our all-knowing God or will we bite in belligerently, pretending to play God?
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track (Proverbs 3:5-6, MSG).
…Sue…
