God's First Command

"The LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.'"  

Genesis 2:16-17

My Camping Experience

Do you like hiking? Camping? Just going off for a few days out into the wilderness enjoying the nice cool breeze, amazing views, and incredible relaxation?

When I was young my grandfather used to take my siblings and I camping for a week during the summer months. We would load up in the camper and head off to Pickle Springs. My grandmother, to this day, still reminds me of those weeks every time I see her.

There was one day in particular when I recall seeing some bushes with colored berries on them. Grandpa walked over and brushed his hand over the top of one of the bushes and told me that the berries on this bush would be fine to eat, but for the other one he told me not to eat any of it. He said it was poisonous and that it would make me sick and ruin the rest of the trip for me.

Do you know what happened next? Grandpa plucked off some of the good berries and we ate a couple together. To this day, I have never eaten from the poisonous bush that he told me not to eat from. As a result, I have never suffered from the stomach pains that would have come if I chose to eat it anyway. I ended up having a GREAT week camping!

Our View of God

Now that you have that story in your head, what comes to mind when you think about God commanding the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

You see, I believe many of us have felt at times that it seems like God is keeping them from something. Like He is holding them back from experiencing life. In fact, that is exactly what Satan wants you to think because that was the same temptation he put in Eve's mind.

However, just like in the story that I told of my grandfather the same is true for how God interacted with Adam on day six. My grandfather warned me that I would become sick if I ate those berries. Adam's God warned him that he would die if he ate of that fruit.

God wasn't keeping anything from Adam. Rather, the LORD God lovingly warned him to not eat from that one tree. He could eat from well over ten million other trees in this world, but if he would eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would become sick and die.

Conclusion

My response to my grandfather was thankfulness that he loves me enough to warn me when something bad may be about to happen. I didn't look at him like he was holding me back from something good. I knew that he was protecting me from a dangerous outcome. The way my grandfather interacted with me is a picture of how God (the Ultimate Father) interacted with Adam.

God is always looking out for His children.