Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Students

I was listening this morning to an old sermon about security of the believer. In the opening section he mentioned that mankind by nature likes to complicate things. I had not thought of that being a natural state, one we are born with and develop with experience without giving much thought to why it happens.

Here in Genesis 2:17 is the simplicity of command. Don’t. You cannot get much simpler than that. Now look to see what happens next.

Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Eve didn’t name the tree only that it was in the middle of the garden. She said she was not to touch it. God never said don’t touch. Where did Eve get her instructions and who had the correct understanding of what God said? Did Adam add don’t touch because he could not trust Eve to obey?

I just complicated don’t.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

There is a secular song which says “love is all around us” but I believe it is saying our flesh is all around us. This is true, our flesh is all around us, and we are surrounded with occasions to sin. Just because we have been set free from the power of sin does not mean we have been removed from the presence of sin. That will come later and in this present age we must live with its presences, temptations and wanton disregard for God’s love.

Galatians 5:13 urges us to regard God’s perfect love in the face of temptation and remember why He died for us. It was by His death and resurrection that we have been given the ability to shed His love, agape, to a lost and dying world.

While we walk by faith, we do so living in this flesh. Doing this causes a struggle within us that only His love can solve. Paul tried to express that in the seventh chapter of Romans but the complexity of those passages has left many wondering why does this have to be so hard.

My only answer to that is found in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:” Satan the thief, hates us and does not want to make anything easy.

My next challenge is to keep it simple students. KISS