I guess you might think with a title like that, I would write about changing fall leaves or dormant trees or seedlings or various arboristic (is that a word?) philosophies. Actually, I want to share with you a little about how trees come into my whole life philosophy-which stems (no pun intended) to my parenting, my marriage, my health, and everything in between. It has nothing to do with the root systems or the xylem and phloem of trees…(I just like to use those words in a sentence whenever I can because they are exceptionally cool words).
In the garden of Eden, God planted two special trees-one represented life and the other represented death. Sometimes the words in scripture are so subtle and if you are reading too fast, you will totally miss an important point. “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life (self-explanatory) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (represents death).” How do I know the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents death? If you read a little further, God tells the man, “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.” (vs.16-17) Side note: not sure Adam told his wife the good details here (imagine that? a man forgetting to tell his woman the details?????!!!!!!! )
Now, why would God do this? I have pondered the whole “Why God gave man choices” query for a while. The best, reasonable explanation I can come up with is that He has the ability to never-I mean NEVER- choose evil (AKA the wrong, unholy, unrepresentative of His good nature and character) while we needed a way to show Him whether we really care to follow Him, thus showing our true devotion. Enter in: CHOICES!!!!
Aren’t you so glad you are not a robot! God giving us the ability to choose anything and everything is one of the greatest gifts He could give His creation. The extra bonus is that He told us what the consequence of making the wrong choice would be: DEATH! Seriously?!?!? How wonderful is it that He gave the answer to the test! No-He is not an elusive, changing unseen force with a death wish for us-HE GAVE US THE ANSWER!!!!!!
Imagine if all of your decisions in life had a concrete answer:
Do not buy this car because it will be a lemon.
Do not marry that man because He will end up swindling your paycheck on his gambling addiction.
Do not buy that house because the roof leaks and the basement has mold.
Do not eat the fruit from that tree because if you do, you will surely die………………
Dang! And we think God is the bad guy.
C’mon girls. How wonderful was it that God told us in plain, easy to understand language what would happen. And we did the very thing that has resulted in deadly consequences over and over and over and over……………
I want to be a girl who makes LIFE GIVING choices. I know I will fail. I know I will not always make the best or even right choice. But I am glad I have made THE one choice that covers over all my bad choices forever. There are two verses that are eternally linked that I want you to ponder: Deuteronomy 30:19 and John 14:6. Try even memorizing them as one verse.
“I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live…….Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
It may sound harsh, but it comes from The Word. Jesus said He is The Word-so they are His words. He said Choose Life. We are so surrounded by death choices constantly that I sometimes wonder what life- giving choices even look like.
One reason I have this blog is so that we can journey together in this constant battle of making life-giving decisions. It is sometimes messy. It is often times confusing. It is ALWAYS harder than it seems. But, in the end-WE GET LIFE!!!!!!!! Isn’t that hard-wired into us as humans? Survival? Doesn’t survival mean life? Let’s explore what this concept of “Survival of the Fittest” really looks like. Choosing life isn’t for the faint of heart or the weak of faith. Choosing life is for the strong. Choosing life only makes you stronger. Please do not add anything to the simplicity of what making Life-Giving choices looks like. If we boil down our choices to the simple question “Does this bring life or does this bring death?” then what turns would our life make? What bonuses would we get out of those decisions? Better health? Better relationships? Peace of mind? This can really go so many places. But, for now, hear my heart and know that I am dedicated to Helping the Girl who strives to live LIFE and LIFE to the full.
