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.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had their pick of all the fruit in the garden except for the fruit that came from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They walked closer to God than any other human (with the exception of Jesus), and they couldn’t resist the temptation of sin. How much harder is it for us? Sin is not just disobeying God’s written commandments. The commandments weren’t even written yet when they sinned. Sin is any disobedience against God’s word. Sometimes these words are specifically for ourselves and spoken to us by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. God knows what is best for us and gives us special instructions to keep us safe. When we ignore these instructions, we usually find ourselves in trouble. In the very own gardens of our heart we try to keep everything pleasant, but what is that one thing that God wants you to give up that you just don’t want to let go of. When I first got saved, the first thing God delivered me from was drinking (I was a functional alcoholic). And many more behaviors came following, but I was holding on to smoking cigarettes. One day. I was at my daughter’s doctor appointment. I started talking to him about Jesus and my passion for deliverance. We had a really nice conversation. When I got back into my car, I looked down at my pack of cigarettes and my spirit said “you hypocrite”. WOW! What conviction fell upon me. I never smoked another one again. Smoking itself is not a sin, but it is bad for you and everyone around you. God is merciful, forgiving and patient. God is also a wonderful Father who knows what is best for His children. The very thing that you won’t let go of is what could be keeping you from advancing into your destiny and more importantly from intimacy with God. Now, the blood of Jesus washes us from our sin and we become a new creation. That in itself is a miracle, but there is so much more that God wants us to have. Jesus died so that we may have power and authority, peace and joy, abundant love and favor. Our hearts should be like Eden. It should be a garden planted with good seed that produces good fruit. We need to be intentional about not partaking what God has shown us as bad. We need to trust the unction of the Holy Spirit. Last but not least, we need to believe that God knows what’s best!
Father, thank you for your saving grace. Thank you that You are merciful and forgiving. Thank you that You give us a choice and lead us on the paths of righteousness. Forgive us for holding on to things that are bad for us. Search our hearts and convict us of things that are keeping us from fulfilling our purpose in You. Help us to come into alignment with Your desires so that we may make your name Great. Let us glorify You in everything that we say and do. In Jesus name I pray. Amen!