Joni and Friends 17 December 2021 Daily Devotional | Friday Message
Topic: Two Trees in the Garden
“In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’” – Genesis 2:9; 3:22
Joni and Friends 17 December 2021 Devotional Message
It’s an old, old story. The serpent beguiled Eve, she and her husband ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and death, sorrow, and disease became a fact of life.
Some people think that God was unkind in banishing Adam and Eve from the Garden. But not so. God was just. Not only that, God was kind for “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24).
How good and merciful of God to keep diseased and sin-sick man from eating of the tree of life. Had Adam and Eve done so, it’s likely that mankind, in his sad and sorry state, would have lived forever. Who wants to live forever in a body of sin and death? Not me.
Far from being a story of heavy-handed, cruel justice, the real story in the Garden is one of God’s wisdom and compassion.
The tree of life not only grew in the Garden of Eden, but it will one day grow in the new heavens and new earth. Revelation 22:2-3 says, “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.”
Thank you for showing such mercy in the Garden of Eden, Lord. And thank you for eternal life free from sorrow and sin.
This daily devotional is taken from Diamonds in the Dust – By Joni Eareckson Tada