The Sacred Road contains many stories of our Creator and our Savior that help us with our walk today. One story is found in Genesis 2 & 3.  It is the story of First Man (Adam) and First Woman (Eve) learning about good and evil. 

Gen 2:16-17 GOD commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead." (THE MESSAGE)

Adam and Eve were tricked by the serpent into eating from that tree and once they did, they understood the difference between right (good) and wrong (evil).  They knew they had done wrong by not trusting God and by disobeying Him so they tried to hide from Creator when they heard Him coming.

Gen 3:8 When they heard the sound of GOD strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from GOD. (THE MESSAGE)

This story is so much like real life.  Ever see a child do something their parents told them not to do?  When their parents show up, seems like that child can’t hide fast enough.  Ever see a man or woman do something their spouse asked them not to do?  I think we inherited this behavior from First Man and First Woman.

Creator just wanted them to trust Him when He asked them not to eat from that tree.  He didn’t expect them to understand all the consequences they would face by eating that fruit.  He just wanted them to know that His love for them was real and that He always wanted the best for them.

But they were tricked into thinking that they were really missing out on something good and that Creator was just trying to keep them from it.  So they lost their place with Creator as a result. 

Jesus demonstrated the right behavior to us.  He trusted God with His whole life.  He said:

John 17:4 I glorified you on earth By completing down to the last detail What you assigned me to do. (THE MESSAGE)

When Jesus was asked to lay His life down, He did so.  Even though He knew it would bring great pain, suffering, and humiliation, He still did it.  Why?  Because He knew that God’s love for Him was real.  He knew that trusting God was the only way to have life and for us to have it too. He knew that the pain, suffering, and humiliation were just temporary.  The life that was to come would be eternal—for Him and for us also.  John said of Jesus:

John 3:18 Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

(THE MESSAGE)

How does that work?  Why is it a big thing to God to trust Him?  To believe that He is the one-of-a-kind Son of God?  Why was it a big thing to eat the apple?  The big thing is the trust that you freely give back to Creator in return for His love.  Simply trusting in what God tells us is the best thing for us.  He’s not asking us to understand all the consequences of it.  Just to do as He asks.  Just like Jesus did. Trust and belief is what He loves.

Have you trusted your life to Creator?  Have you believed in Him in all things? If not, one day when you are standing there in the light of His truth and His holiness, you may be tempted to hide yourself, just like First Man and First Woman. 

But when this time comes, if we remember to trust in what Jesus did, to believe that He loves us and died for us that we might live, to believe that we are forgiven, we will not be tricked into losing our place with Creator a second time.  We will love the light that He brings and not fear exposure.  We will have eternal life with Him.

John 3:16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. (THE MESSAGE)