THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:8, 9, 15-17

The first man heard from God's own lips the first commandment, the first warning, the first indication that all things in Creation are not free and pure. I wonder what the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil looked like. Was it scary looking or attractive? The tree was not yet cursed, so it couldn't have had blight or blemished fruit. Perhaps it looked nearly identical to the Tree of Life. Often the paths between good and evil are very hard to discern for us today and it could have been the same for Adam.

What must it have been like for Adam to try and imagine a thing such as death when he had no experience to base it on? How can one imagine consequences if he has never been disciplined? It could appear to our modern minds that God was being unfair. We know that God often tests us, but why? Why would He invite temptation into His perfect world?

What benefit is there to be had by allowing Adam free will? Well, let's think about this for a minute. If a man buys a slave woman to take as his wife, she will resent him and true love will be less likelky to grow. However, if a man meets a woman who is free and she chooses him, true love abounds.

There is something precious about the love between God and a person who gives their love to God freely. That love is deep, powerful and dynamic. Life's irritations, frustrations, disappointments, tragedies and pain cannot break it. At times the flame of love may grow dim. Doubts and discouragement often force us to re-evaluate our reasons for loving God and decide whether it's worth the consequences - that is, restrictions from things that God has determined are not good for us, commandments to not do things that would harm others and personal experience of the battle between good and evil.