Maximizing Your Potential

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16b-17). They were free to eat from any tree in the garden, but one. When the serpent convinced the man and the woman to eat from this one tree, God put them out of the garden and they lost the freedom to eat from the garden’s other trees. Their desire to be freed from God’s restrictions cost them the freedom He had given them to eat from the other trees in the garden. Thus, the first penalty of freedom without responsibility is the loss of existing freedoms. This proves to be true in all life. The teenager who stays out past his curfew loses his privilege to use the family car. The mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses the customers he is in business to serve. The worker who takes 30 minutes for a 10-minute break loses the freedom to leave her desk without punching the time clock. The politician who forgets his campaign promises and breaks faith with the people who put him in office loses his reelection bid and the opportunity to serve his constituents. Slavery Slavery is a second consequence of freedom without responsibility. When the man and the woman disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became slaves to evil. Before their rebellion against God, Adam and Eve knew only good because their knowledge came from their relationship with God, who is good. In the moment of sin, their spirits became separated from God’s Spirit and they became slaves of rebellion, the root of all sin. They could no longer see and do what God requires. This loss of the ability to see and do what is right is always a result of choosing to place oneself above the law. Thus, the teenager who regularly stays out past his curfew comes to expect that this is his right, the mechanic who charges exorbitant rates loses sight of fairness, the worker who takes an extended break assumes the company owes her this, and the politician who breaks faith with those who elected him fails to see the error of his ways. Each becomes so enmeshed in his rebellious attitudes and actions that he can no longer see the wrong of his actions. Death inevitably follows. Death The third consequence of freedom without responsibility is death. Notice that God connected the violation of the boundary around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with death: “.for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16). Disobedience to law always results in death. The teenager who indulges in late hours will eventually see the death of his