OUR DAILY BREAD : THE CHOICE

[cimi]

July 2
Thursday


THE CHOICE

READ:
Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-8
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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. __Genesis 2:16-17
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I watched as a young mother tried to get her 2-year-old child to make a choice. "You can have fish or chicken," she told him. She limited his choice to just two because he was too young to understand beyond that. Choice often allows a wider variety of options, and it also must allow the person to reject the choices.

Adam and Eve were in the best possible environment.. God had given them freedom to eat of all the trees in Eden. he drew the boundary lines around only one tree! They had a choice, and it should have been a no- brainer to choose wisely. but their choice was tragic.

Some blame God for what they see as His restrictions. they may even accuse him of tying to control their lives. But God gives us a choice, just as He did Adam an Eve.

Yes, God draws boundary lines, but they are for our protection. David understood this. He wrote, "You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies.... I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your Word" (Ps. 119:98-101).

God cares so much about us that He gives us boundary lines so that we will choose what is right. __C. P. Hia
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````````````````````Lord, help us to obey Your Word,``````````````
`````````````````````To heed Your still, small voice;``````````````
```````````````````And may we not be swayed by men,````````````
````````````````But make Your will our choice. __D. De Haan```````
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God's commandments were given to fulfill us,
not to frustrate us.

************Today's Bible Reading __ Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-8*******

36 And the LORD God
commanded the man, saying,
"Of every tree of the garden
you may freely eat; 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 surely die."

1 Now the serpent was more
cunning than any beast of the
field which the LORD God
had made. And he said to the
woman, "Has God indeed
said, 'You shall not eat of
every tree of the garden'?"

2 And the woman said to the
serpent, "We may eat the
fruit of the trees of the
garden; 3 but of the fruit of
the tree which is in the midst
of the garden God has said,
"You shall not eat it, nor shall
you touch it, lest you die.' "

4 Then the serpent said to
the woman, "You will not
surely die. For God knows
that in the day you eat of it
your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil."

6 So when the woman saw
that the tree was good for
food, that it was pleasant to
the eyes, and a tree desirable
to make one wise, she took
of its fruit and ate. She also
gave to her husband with her,
and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of
both of them were opened,
and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig
leaves together and made
themselves coverings.

8 And they heard the sound
of the LORD God walking in
the garden in the cool of the
day, and Adam and his wife
hid themselves from the
presence of the LORD God
among the trees of the
garden.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

First John 2:16 sheds light on the temptations in Eden (Gen. 3) and
gives warning: "All that is in the world--the lust of the flesh ['good
for food'] the lust of the eyes ['pleasant to the eyes'], and the pride
of life ['be like God']... is of the world." __BILL CROWDER