When God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in a garden home where everything was provided for their happiness and well-being. It was for their protection that to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was prohibited.
“It was the will of God that Adam and Eve should not know evil. The knowledge of good had been freely given them; but the knowledge
- of evil,
- of sin and its results,
- of wearing toil,
- of anxious care,
- of disappointment and grief,
- of pain and death,
this was in love withheld.” Education, 23.
Today, the results of knowing good and evil are apparent all around us. God seeks our good and in His abounding love gives instruction designed to protect the human race from evil, but Satan is bent on seeking our ruin.
There are trees of good and evil in the world today. Satan is a master of mixing a lot of good with a little bad to lure the unsuspecting. He captures the attention by the senses. It may be a television program or a movie that has so much good in it and is so funny that we tolerate the cursing or the lewd plot. Guard the avenues to the soul, for by beholding we become changed. Little by little that which was once abhorred eventually becomes acceptable and ultimately desirable. Sin loses its heinousness and we find ourselves addicted to that which we know will not enhance our relationship with our Lord. Satan’s masterpiece is to mix good with evil—he loves the outcome.
In daily living there is enough evil to avoid without bringing it into our homes and setting it up as an idol in our living rooms.
As he did in Eden, Satan still desires to make it appear that the knowledge of good and evil would be a great blessing. Many people consider it silly and fanatical to make a stand on choosing to refrain from what is socially accepted as normal entertainment.
Each person has his or her own forbidden tree that Satan deceives them into believing is okay, convincing them that a little evil will not hurt them. Beware, Satan is a liar. Put your trust in God’s wisdom and not the lies of the enemy. A lie is a lie; evil is evil, and no matter how much good you put with it, it is still evil. Eve’s eyes were opened when she ate of the forbidden fruit, but did she like what she saw? The only thing to be gained by continuing to eat from that tree is more of the curse of sin.
Notice: “Man lost all because he chose to listen to the deceiver rather than to Him Who is Truth, Who alone has understanding. By the mingling of evil with good, his mind had become confused, his mental and spiritual powers benumbed. No longer could he appreciate the good that God had so freely bestowed.” Ibid., 25. [Emphasis added.] How different life would be on this planet had our first parents trusted the wisdom of God and been protected from the flood of evil that came once their “eyes were opened.”
Father: The horror of the mixtures in my life, the mingling of evil with good has brought confusion and spiritual numbness to my heart and mind. I want to experience all of the good that You desire for Your children. Give me strength to resist the temptation to be drawn onto that enchanted ground that draws the curious into a spiral fall that ends in the abyss of sin. I want to be ready for the soon appearing of Jesus. Amen.