Genesis 2:16-17 (NASB)

Scripture
What particularly spoke to you today?
Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. Highlight the verse or verses that stand out.

The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

Observation
What do you think God is saying?
Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Rewrite the scripture in your own words.

God made this explanation to the man he had created, "Eat from every tree I have planted in the garden, except the tree which bears the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. Eating from that tree will cause your death."

Application
How can you apply this today?
Personalize what you have read by considering the instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise or corrections for your own life.

I just read seven classical commentaries on these verses (available at BibleClassics.com). Most of them seem to suggest that this rule forbidding the fruit of a particular tree was simply a test of Adam's obedience. I can't entirely agree with that; it seems too arbitrary. I think it's more a statement of our own human nature. God offered Himself in open relationship, asking His creation to simply trust that He knew what was good and evil; to accept the wisdom of all-knowing God. "If you continue loving Me, being with Me, obeying Me," He seems to say, "you will have no need to discern good from evil because I am all good and would never give you evil."

I sometimes spend a lot of time trying to figure out God's will for my life. I wonder if I waste most of that time. Since, through Christ, God has reconciled our relationship, wouldn't it make sense that His previous instructions would stand: love Me, be with Me, obey Me ... I am all good and would never give you evil? Which is not to say I should be unaware of the evil that exists in the world, but that God is bigger and better than any evil and if I just do what He says, I can overcome evil with good.

Prayer
What are you and God talking about?
Ask God to help you use this scripture, and thank Him for what He may be revealing to you. Prayer is a conversation, so remember to listen as well as speak.

Lord God, I spend an awful lot of time fearing the evil in the world. I'm sorry I do that. I know in my head that You are bigger, You are better, and You have overcome the world. Yet, it is so easy for me to forget and try to battle on my own. I don't want to admit that I am not prepared for that battle and not strong enough to win it on my own, but I'm not. I need You.

Father, help me to recognize that I don't have to figure everything out, I don't have to have all the answers, but I do have to trust in You and do what I know You have told me to do. Help me to organize my days according to Your priorities, not simply what seems good to me.