Living in the Tree of Life

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (KJV)

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had a choice between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Day in and day out they lived in the life of God and with God, until the serpent came to Eve and tempted her.  God had expressely warned Adam and his lovely wife Eve that they could eat of every tree but not of the tree of good and evil.  While they were in the garden they enjoyed the tree of life. But God had warned them not to eat of the tree of good and evil because it would expose them to something they were totally unable to comprehend...Evil!

Well, along came the Serpant to Eve and began to work on her concerning the tree of good and evil. She probably resisted many attacks but in his persistance she finally gave in.  She made that choice to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil even though God told her expressly not to do so. That decision brought about events that tore their lives and the lives of other people apart.

Every day "WE" also have choices between tree of life decisions and tree of good and evil decisions. Living in the tree of good and evil means making choices that causes you to filter everything through a value system of evaluating what is good and what is evil.  This is a very dangerous road to travel because we don't always see things clearly or objectively. As you know, some things look great on the outside but behind it is a disaster waiting to happen.

If you're an "expert" on what is good, you will judge yourself and others from a pride and arrogance point of view, or maybe self-righteously, and then you become so harsh that it brings death to you.  If you're an expert on evil, corruption will creep into your heart and cause you considerable harm. You can't win! Knowledge of good and evil always has the same result - your death. Why? Because every single person who makes a decision thinks it's a good decision!

 Making tree of life decisions, brings life, peace and spiritual health to us.  
Why do we praise God? Because it stimulates life in our lives.  Why do we treat people with kindness? Why do we forgive?  Why do we turn the other cheek, etc.? Because it stimulates His life in us and others. In the tree of life we always do things that brings life to people, including us. The enemy hates when we make tree of life decisions.