Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV)

‘And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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 surely die.” ‘

God gives boundaries to everything. There’s no such thing as unbridled and total freedom. We don’t need to understand why God puts some limitations on us but we need to trust Him when He says, ‘you can eat this but don’t eat that’. It’s faith. When we break the rule and eat that which He did not permit us, it does nothing to God but brings death to us. A simple pleasure of a few minutes can rob you of great grace and blessings. Listen carefully therefore to the injunctions and personalized instructions given to you, for it may differ from the instructions given to someone else.

Make a list of the free things and the forbidden things. Because both may emanate from the same Source and may be present in the same body, it takes great discernment to know what brings life and what embodies death. An example is a television. Harmless you may think and yet flowing from that black box can be programs that lead to life and edification and programs that release death and increase our wretchedness. The same goes for many other gadgets and utilities of the modern life. The same applies to relationships. Death is a step away. Alertness is critical to survival in the garden.

‘Lord, I am not a very intelligent man and I am not particularly discerning. And even when I do discern your voice, I am many times too weak to act and avoid the tentacles of death in my garden. But I look to you for help, for you alone are my shield and defense in this existence called life. Amen.’