The Conscience

Genesis 2:9-17 - 9And out of the ground the LORD God made 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 the knowledge of good and evil. 10A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." 

God created the world with order…he put everything man needed in a lush Garden of beauty.  The Garden of Eden was complete with a river to water it and this river branched out to nourish the rest of the Earth. Man was given a task…to care for this Garden of Eden…to care for the animals and care for himself….everything he could have needed was right there. I can close my eyes and think about the most beautiful…lush garden I have ever beheld…but I just don’t think my human brain can wrap itself around the perfectness of that garden.  The perfectness included trees of every kind…..all intended to feed man…except for one...the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  My Living Bible called it the tree of conscience.

Man was given choice on that day. His task included obedience….God commanded him not to ever eat of that tree…for its fruit would cause death. God placed within reach of man the choice to obey or disobey…he gave man a choice…to be satisfied with the trees he provided for food …or eat of the fruit of conscience and die. God knew that tree would open Adam’s eyes….open Eve’s eyes to the evil that existed in the world. Eating that fruit would open their heart to Satan’s power….cause an inner struggle that would lead them eventually to death.

I still struggle every day with the choice of being obedient…with the exception of reading my Bible faithfully and writing for the last two years…I really can’t recall another task I have truly been obedient too.  I broke my first marriage vows…and couldn’t recall all the other times my selfishness has encouraged me to make a wrong decision. I might accidently choose the right path occasionally…and maybe a few short term tasks have been completed successfully …but if I am honest…I have failed more that I have succeeded.  But here’s the kicker…the amazing thing about God….as soon as my conscience tells me I have done something wrong…and I admit that sin to God…he takes it away.  He restores me…repairs the damage I did..and sets me back on the right path.

I may never really understand why God created the world as he did…giving us choices…asking us to be obedient…he could have left that tree out of the garden. Maybe it was because he wanted a person to love him back the way he loves us….not a robot that automatically does everything right.  Maybe he put that tree there to make his creation more like him…so he could have a relationship with us…to share the wonder of the world he made…to talk about the beautiful things he made and enjoy them with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind. Maybe God was lonely …like me sometimes…just for someone to love him back.

Father…I know in my heart that you love me more than I will ever love you back.  Thank you for your merciful and faithful love that has built a relationship with me that helps me see my sin.  I am so glad that you made a way to save me when I make the wrong choices….so that I can be restored and try once again to do what is right.  Help me father to let you guide my decisions…to let you be my conscience…to let your heart be my guide when I have to make a choice in this life. Thank you father for loving me so much that in spite of the wrong choices I have made you love me so much  that you fix my messes….and make them a testimony to how you can change lives and take evil and make it good.  Give me new strength to be obedient…in every new task you give me to do. Amen.