Scripture Verses that Caught my attention today: Genesis 3:22-23 Then the LORD God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
Observation: Adam and Eve chose the right tree
Application: As I read chapters 3 and 4 of Genesis this morning I thought to myself, ‘would I have chosen to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or would I have chosen to eat from the tree of life to live forever?’
Honestly, I think I might have chosen the latter, which is why I’m glad that the woman (she isn’t given a name until 4:1) and the man (we don’t learn his name until 4:25) chose the former. Can you imagine living forever but then being banned from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? That, it would seem, would mean living a very dumb and foolish life—forever!
Of course, in some ways we lead dumb and foolish lives as it is. We tend to make the same mistakes over and over and we tend to do or think things that are very short-sighted and lead us into all sorts of regrettable situations. So perhaps we haven’t learned much even after having access to the knowledge of good and evil!
On the other hand it could also be said that life would be more innocent if we didn’t know so much. In the story there’s no indication that the man and the woman had any unfulfilled needs prior to their fall, save for an apparent lack of contentment and an easily serpent-fostered lack of trust in God.
Either way, it seems to me that we’re not ready to live forever just yet. Christ may have saved us through the cross, but it seems the process of sanctifying us continues on and is not complete until we rest in peace to rise again.
All in God’s own good time.
Prayer: Lord, maybe the serpent wasn’t ‘smart’ enough to guide the subjects of your story to choose to eat from the tree of life or maybe it was just literally dumb-luck. But I’m personally thankful that things worked out as they did so that our lives are in your hands rather than in our own. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Scripture Readings today included: Genesis 3-4 and Luke 2)
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