Devotion:
Read Genesis 2:15-17.
“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden…” Can you imagine what it would have been like for Adam, living in the Garden of Eden with everything he needed provided for him? Water brought life to the garden, and beautiful trees with every kind of fruit grew in abundance. We think of fruit trees common to our general area -- apple, peach, pear, fig, orange, banana, plum, tangerine, and so on. The menu certainly included fruit from other countries, much of which we have never tasted. It would have taken Adam a lifetime to exercise his freedom and enjoy the variety as he ate from all the different species.
“But you must not eat from the tree…” With that warning, God gave Adam a boundary, a limit on his freedom. That is the way of love. Good parents give children freedom to make choices, knowing we learn and grow and mature by using our free will; but good parents also establish boundaries to protect and guide children. In God’s infinite wisdom and love for us, God gives human beings both freedom to choose and boundaries. We need boundaries, we don’t always like them, but they should remind us that we are loved.
Personal Worship Option:
Reflect on the many freedoms we have to make choices, using our free will. What are some of the boundaries God places on us? Those few boundaries are a bit like the one forbidden tree among all the countless other trees in the garden. Remember the boundaries are for our collective good.
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