“Now the LORD God
had planted a garden…and there he put the man he had formed…The LORD God took
the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it… ‘You
are free to eat from any tree…but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil…” Genesis 2:8-17.
Since the beginning of time God has placed man over
authority of many good and great things.
Also, since the creation God has ushered in blessings along with
boundaries. In the perfect place He gave
to Adam and Eve there was an area in their surroundings that was not meant to be
touched. Scripture tells us that God
planted the garden where they would live and work. With it came His command to enjoy the lives
God had formed for them but to never lose sight of the boundaries which He put
into place. God knew that man’s tendency
would be to live life without boundaries…to pursue authority over everything…to
gain access to anything.
It is mind-boggling to think that we have not evolved
much more than the original man and woman in the Garden. God has planted a wonderful Garden of Eden
for each of us…our home lives…our work lives…our ministries. But every facet of our lives will have
certain forbidden areas that we must not approach. These areas are established by God for our
good, and if we wander beyond the appointed boundaries we communicate to God
that we have forgotten how able He is…we doubt how great His plans are for each
of us…we rob Him of His honor and glory by trying to be God for Him. ‘Even
though God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the garden, He was still in ultimate
authority…they were its managers but He was the owner. He had every right to withhold…creating a
boundary…It was His garden. And when
they chose to step beyond that boundary and into the margin He’s commanded them
not to enter, they rebelled against the most important declaration He’d made in
the entire creation process: I Am
Sovereign’ Breathe, p. 104.
We cannot live our lives in chronic activity trying to
balance an impossible schedule, a life without boundaries. When our activities are hurried, stressed and
frazzled we have lost the perspective of our gardens. We have demanded authority over too much and
are losing control of everything. The
joy and blessings meant for us to harvest from our gardens are slipping between
the very fingers that are clinging too tightly.
‘Overloading of anything is often
what we do when we forget who God is’ Breathe, p.
109.
God has created a life for each of us and given us
authority over things He has chosen. His
desire is to walk with us through the beautifully created gardens, and live with
an awareness of boundaries He has placed around us. We must take the time to walk with Him, make
the decision to live within these boundaries, and harvest the blessings from Him
while He is being God. We must say no to
some things in order to say yes to God in all things.
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