A Choice of Trees

TREES
A Poem by Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

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

Ever wondered why God put That tree into the garden, you know the one...Knowledge of Good and Evil (what kind of fruit is that?)?  I know that I have asked the question a time or two.  God planted a beautiful garden in Eden and rivers flowed into it to water the garden.  He provided all those beautiful trees and plants and told the man to take care of the garden and all that was in it.  The man was given one specific instruction (just one rule)...don't eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  One rule and a tree that appears to have no purpose and man (and woman) blew it.  Eyes were opened to their nakedness, communion with the Creator was lost and the couple was cast out into Eden's environment, the world of good and evil.

If the tree wasn't good for us, then why put it in the garden? Right?  Kind of like putting rat poison in the pantry and telling a child not to eat it.  Well, this weekend I was given insight into the situation.  A young minister brought this explanation.  God spoke the world and all that is in it into existence, with one exception...man.  Everything in the garden was designed to do a job, fulfill a purpose.  Man was created in the hands of the creator from the soil of Eden, filled by the breath of God and then placed into the garden.  Man was created with the power of thought, because he was made in the image of God, the Creator and with the power of thought comes the power to choose. 

Man was created for a higher purpose, communion with God by choice.  Trees lift their branches to the Creator as a matter of course, survival.   Animals act out of genetically coded instincts; but Man makes choices.  If God had not put the two trees, Life and Knowledge of Good and Evil, into the garden with the divine instruction 'don't eat of this one'; there would be no choice.  Without choice there would have been only duty not love.  God is Love and love is a choice not a duty.

Because man made a choice he met death, not just physical but spiritual death and was removed from the garden and from access to the other tree, the Tree of Life.  Because of his choice he lost that sweet communion with the Creator, the easy life of the garden and was sentenced to a life of striving for his survival.  But the Creator was never far from man waiting for him to make a better choice and out of His Love and Compassion brought about the Salvation of man through sacrifice... and then the final sacrifice.  What began in a garden with a tree, Knowledge of Good and Evil, ended above a garden on a tree (the Tree of Life) with the death of His son, Jesus.  God, became flesh and once again walked with His creation, drawing them into relationship as He made disciples.  When the time was at hand He gave Himself as the final sacrifice making it possible for us to once again choose to eat from the Tree of Life as we set aside our desire for the worldly.

Today we still have a choice.  Each of us has the power to choose the life we live, the god we follow and our eternal future.  Which tree will you choose to eat from - Knowledge of Good and Evil, worldly fare, or Tree of Life, sweet communion with the Creator and eternal life with Him?  I choose Life and that more abundantly in Him.

"O Lord God, let these words touch all who read them with a desire to know more of You, to walk in communion with You.  Keep me ever in the center of your Will that I may always choose Life.  I am flesh and blood already aware of Good and Evil, having experienced the world, but this I know that You are all I need.  Keep my heart soft and humble before you full of your Mercy and Goodness."