The very first commandment God gave to man in Genesis: 2 v 17 was “But of the tree of good and evil thou shalt not eat for in the day that thou eatest  there of thou shalt surely die.”  We can experience a lot of death before the day we end up in a coffin.

Do I have compartments in my life where everything I like I deem as good, and everything I dislike I deem as evil?  But God says not to partake of good or evil but to partake of the tree of life.  How do I partake of life when everything is screaming at me that this circumstance is wrong or bad or evil?

Well…Proverbs: 3 v 5 says to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding”. God’s ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours and He is constantly working in our lives to this end…That we will trust Him in spite of what we feel in our hearts.

Psalm: 86 v’s 11&12  Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name.  I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for ever more.  Do I see the emphasis coming through here?  I cannot glorify God in my life with a divided heart!!  My circumstances are not separated. Some good , some evil.  I must not lean unto my own understanding which is having a divided heart, but trust God with all my heart.

Luke: 6 v 45.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil:  for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.  My heart has a voice!!

But when difficult and adverse circumstances and situations occur in my life, if my heart is divided I will lean unto my own understanding and deposit them into a category of good or evil.  A divided heart!

When my heart is united to fear His name, I simply put my trust in God to work out, and work in my life, to His glory.

So often my circumstances dictate the quality of my life-style.  I make a judgement in my heart that this situation is good or evil.  I have made a choice within that judgement which has triggered a consequence which fashions the quality of my life.  Jesus says in John: 10 v 10 “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  Abundant life is defined by a united heart!

In closing consider this…The good is the enemy of the best.  The best is God!  If I know God instead of good I will never have the attendant twin…evil!  Good and evil go together.  Neither must be my portion, but to know Him…

To know Him!  To know Him!  Should be the cry of my heart, and to know what He’s saying to me!

All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.  This is the goodness of God.  Not the good from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!