All the Trees are Yours

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Our God is a God who says no to that which destroys us, but His character is not fundamentally negative. When He put our first parents in the Garden, He said yes to every tree in the Garden but one. That tree was restricted, and only for a time. It is commonly assumed by Christians that the tree of life was also prohibited, but the text never says that—indeed, it says exactly the opposite. All the trees were available to Adam and Eve, all but one.

We are in a similar situation. All foods are declared clean for us as Christians. The Christian faith rejects all dietary restrictions for spiritual reasons. You may restrict your diet for other reasons, like getting into a different weight class for the big fight, but you may not restrict your diet because you think that God will somehow be pleased or displeased by what you put into your mouth.

This is the tree of life here. We have all been brought back to it. All the other trees in the Garden—all your ordinary meals and snacks—are given to you. Freely, completely and with nothing held back secretly.

You may not eat from the table of demons, the New Testament tells us, and since the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it, this means that the only way to can eat from the table of demons is by rejecting God in your heart through unbelief. Any attempt to eat autonomously is the problem. All attempts to eat gratefully are received by God as acceptable service to Him.

Take care, because it is easy to mark this distinction in your mind and still come under bondage. If you are eating a certain way for your weight, or for your health, and you experience bondage not gratitude, then something is wrong. We must not accept any yoke of bondage. Test the fruit by its fruit.

The best way to learn how to approach all the other trees rightly (which are yours to enjoy) is by approaching the tree of life rightly, and regularly. Let us do so now.

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