The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
God created mankind to have free will. He didn’t want puppets or robots to follow and love him because they had no choice; man was created to love and serve God willingly. Adam and Eve enjoyed a perfect communion with God, but when they ate the forbidden fruit, they separated themselves from God, and in turn separated all of humanity. We often choose to put other things besides Jesus on the thrones of our lives. Because of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross, we have a renewed relationship with our God. Thank you, Jesus for doing for us what we couldn’t do on our own!
The Burning Bush
“Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody, 40 years learning he was a nobody, and 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”
-D.L. Moody
Near the end of his 40 years of “learning he was a nobody,” God appeared to Moses through the burning bush. Moses’ willingness to acknowledge God altered the remainder of his life for the better.
The Fig Tree
In the book of Mark, Jesus curses and allows the withering of a fig tree to teach His disciples that some people can appear religious on the outside but are truly dead on the inside. Jesus encourages true followers of the Lord to be faithful, pray boldly and display the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. There is an emphasis to be attached to the Lord (the vine), so true Christians can bear fruit. Jesus states, in the end, it’s essential for Christians to show the world how to be fruitful, genuine disciples of Christ, mirroring the true character of God.
The Tree of Life
From the beginning of time, there has been a plan for the absolute best version of you. A version that gets better even on earth as He leads your life in the fruit of the Spirit. But, even better than that, it’s the version of you that is perfect in an eternal existence in paradise in the presence and availability of that Tree of Life in heaven. From the beginning of time, God has had that you in mind. You just didn’t know it. It’s ok. You don’t know what you don’t know.