I was reading a book the other day and came across something I had never realized before. In Genesis 2:9, it says that God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. At first glance that might not seem that significant or you may ask yourself "Why would God put something He didn't want them to eat in the middle of the Garden, let alone in the Garden at all?". Well, I am certainly a believer that God has a purpose for everything He does. He does nothing by accident, and this tree in the middle of the Garden was no accident. Think about it. With the tree in the middle of the garden, they walked by it several times a day, probably. They were daily tempted by that beautiful fruit (Genesis 3:6 tells us that it was "pleasant to the eyes"). With every passing, Adam and Eve had to make a conscious decision whether or not to obey God, and maybe that is exactly what God desired. He didn't want a creation whose only choice is to obey Him. He wanted a creation that would consciously make the decision daily to obey Him as a result of their love relationship with Him. So maybe there is some good that comes out of living in this nasty, sinful world. We are bombarded daily with choices to obey or disobey, and each time we choose to obey we are bringing Him the worship He truly desires.
"Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."
1 Samuel 15:22
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