Living In Hope: Genesis 2:16

                              Keep your eyes on all the trees

Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 

"Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat."

Genesis 3:3 "But of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, 

God has said, 'You shall not eat of it.'"

Here is a bible story many of us are quite familiar with. Satan in the form of a silvery-tongue serpent convinces Eve to disobey God and eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."                              After conceding, she convinces Adam that the serpent "has a good point" and so he does likewise.            Of course we know well the tragedy that follows. We are living the consequences of Adam and Eve's decision everyday. 

There are so many lessons we can learn from this story. Yet here is probably my favorite one. 

In the garden the Lord told Adam and Eve, "Take a good look around. I have blessed you with a bountiful garden filled with luscious fruit. You are surrounded by trees filled with delicious, succulent, apples and oranges, and tangerines, and grapes. Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat." 

Adam and Eve must have stood there with their eyes bulging out. "You mean all this is mine?"

"That's what I said: 'Every tree of the garden you may so freely enjoy." 

Wow! You cannot ask for more than that. And it's as if God was saying to them, "If you keep your eyes on all the delicious trees my goodness has provided for your livelihood and enjoyment, you won't desire that one tree I said is not for you." 

But then the serpent comes along. And what I want us to see is that the serpent was first successful in getting Eve to take her eyes off of all the trees God said was for her enjoyment, and place them on that one little tree God said, "This isn't for you." Yes, it was true there was one tree God said she couldn't eat from, but how quickly she forgot about all the trees God had given her freely to enjoy. How quickly she forgot about all the blessings surrounding her life. 

I have heard people say, "Eve should have never talked to the serpent. She should have run." Probably true, but at the same time she gave the silver-tongued devil the correct answer. She said to the serpent, "God has said, 'Every tree of the garden you may freely eat from.'" If she would have just stopped right there and began praising God for His incredible goodness, the story would have ended differently. However, the devil convinced her to take her eyes off of the fullness of the garden and focus on that one tree. Gripes!

As the people of God, we are so blessed by the Lord. His goodness has filled our lives. Yet how many times does the devil come along and try to get our eyes off of the many blessings God has so graciously given to us, and start focusing on something God has said, "This is not for you"?

When God says to us, "This is not for you," sometimes those words can hurt. And disappointment always hurts. We don't get something we want, or something didn't turn out the way we hoped, how easy it is to get angry. Sometimes it is so easy to cast the blame onto God. And the entire time the goodness of God surrounds our lives like the garden surrounded Eve. 

The older I get the more I realize I need to be so grateful for what I have instead of focusing on what I don't have, or what others have that I don't have. It is not always easy to do but the Lord helps me. 

Like the garden of Eden, I am so surrounded by the goodness of God. Yes, life has its problems, but the Lord's goodness fills my life.

My prayer is simply, "Lord, help me to keep my eyes on the trees instead of focusing on that one tree. You have been so good to me. There is not one area in my life that you have not blessed. You have blessed me; you have blessed my marriage; you have blessed my relationship with my children; you have blessed my ministry. Yes, there are problems and heartaches, but your goodness so outweighs them all. Help me to keep my eyes on the trees."