Walking the path

(2-minute read)

By the time I was an adult, I knew something was wrong with life. I was tired of people treating me like a child, telling me what to do, and I expected to do what I wanted.

There were two significant trees in the Garden of Eden. Mankind chose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Our present world was built on its principles. First, it was relationships, and then it became governments. These governments made laws based on the tree. The principles became universal, and the individual had no choice but to live under them. They became normal life and normal thinking. We understood other people, cultures, nations, and even God from the viewpoint of what is good and what is evil.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil has its religions. The purest form of its religion is politics. It sets about through laws to plainly say what is good or evil. We all live in this system, but some choose it as part of their identity. Some common hallmarks of living under this tree from the garden are fear, disappointment, and anger.

The other significant tree in the Garden of Eden isn’t based on good and evil but gives us life. It gives us love, then hope, and then faith. Over time, as this new life fills us, that which is evil loses its hold on us. The hallmarks of this new life are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The change within us happens rapidly and may take only a lifetime to complete.

The great gift and the great problem are our free will. No matter how long we wait or hope, God will not force us to accept the rescue he has provided. God sent his son, Jesus, to the earth to pay the price for the evil we have done. Like being a passenger on an airplane, you can’t get on any place you please. You must get on at the beginning of the flight. We begin as an act of our free will, proclaiming to someone else that we accept what God has done for us. This is the beginning of real life.

Photo by Emmalee Couturier