TODAY’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE
Good Things
In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
— Genesis 2:9
In the beginning, as God created his new world, he created a garden where he might coexist in harmony with people. God intended both the well-being of humanity and the well-being of creation as a result of their care for it. Humans coexisted peacefully with the rest of creation in the Garden of Eden while serving and connecting with God.
There, people might eat from whatever tree they pleased, with the exception of one known as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You may be familiar with the plot: after eating the forbidden fruit, humans defied God and brought havoc into his otherwise peaceful planet (Genesis 3).
Why did they consume the fruit despite being instructed not to? Well, temptation and want were the beginning of it all. They were persuaded to believe that eating the fruit would make them like God, capable of distinguishing between good and evil, and they started to yearn for what was forbidden. They were prone to believe that God was withholding blessings from them.
God is effectively saying, “No, I am not withholding good things from you,” at the Lord’s Supper. You see, I offer you wholesome foods to eat in order to cure and nourish you, just as I did long before. May you recognize that you need my love to thrive in order to receive this gift from my hand.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your plans for us—not to harm us but to allow us to grow and flourish in your good world. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.