"And out of the ground made the Gods to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life, also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
Abraham 5:9
One thing that I really like about this verse is the mention of beauty. I think it is significant that when Eden was created, there was thought and planning put into balancing beauty and necessity, making sure that the trees there were both pleasant to the sight *and* good for food: both good and beautiful. And yet, there are other things going on here too--placing both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil are significant. Theoretically, if God really didn't want the fruit of knowledge to be eaten he could have left the tree out of the garden, right? Or made it too old to bear fruit. We know from 2 Nephi 2:15 that the fruit of one was sweet (presumably the tree of knowledge from the order given in the verse) and the other was bitter (presumably the tree of life), so temptation was planned into the situation.
Now, of course, it wasn't a manipulation on the level of just placing a marshmallow in front of a child with nothing else in the room and telling them not to eat it. It was a whole garden with plenty going on, and only one thing forbidden... but it was still a temptation. God wasn't trying to force Adam and Eve into something, but rather setting up a situation where real choice was possible, because they were enticed by opposite choices.
It is somewhat similar to our lives now. Many things that are bad for us are delicious or enticing in some way, and very often things that are good for us are less enticing in the same immediate way, or even bitter... thereby setting up real choice, because both are desirable in different ways, and not desirable in others. Good things often require delayed gratification and patience, but are much better choices long term and make us happier overall, while bad things often pay off immediately, but we know that we are going to suffer for them later, if we so choose. God isn't trying to manipulate us into choosing one or the other, but he is setting up a situation where they are real choices. If all the things that were good for you were perfect and delicious and the bad things were ugly and moldy, then no one would even blink at choices, and it would also diminish what we could learn and who we could become, because we wouldn't be facing the tough choices that teach us who we are, and that help us learn to rely on God.
When I talk about beauty in the Garden of Eden, I am not referring to physical human beauty, but even that teaches us the same lesson in a way. Isaiah, referring to Christ, mentions that there is no comeliness or beauty that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:2). A lot of life is a lesson in seeing *past* our physical senses to the spiritual beauty beyond.
Today, let's remember that all around us are good *and* bad things. Sometimes we get spiritual blinders on and can only see the poor choices, but the good is always there as well, each day. God surrounds us with beauty, although it is not always a physical beauty, and sometimes we have to look hard to see it. Let's take action in our lives to make the choices that we have been given and to seek out the things that are both good *and* beautiful, whether physically or spiritually, and let's gather them into our lives, always choosing God and the true, lasting happiness that he offers over the imitation.
Abraham 5:9
One thing that I really like about this verse is the mention of beauty. I think it is significant that when Eden was created, there was thought and planning put into balancing beauty and necessity, making sure that the trees there were both pleasant to the sight *and* good for food: both good and beautiful. And yet, there are other things going on here too--placing both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil are significant. Theoretically, if God really didn't want the fruit of knowledge to be eaten he could have left the tree out of the garden, right? Or made it too old to bear fruit. We know from 2 Nephi 2:15 that the fruit of one was sweet (presumably the tree of knowledge from the order given in the verse) and the other was bitter (presumably the tree of life), so temptation was planned into the situation.
Now, of course, it wasn't a manipulation on the level of just placing a marshmallow in front of a child with nothing else in the room and telling them not to eat it. It was a whole garden with plenty going on, and only one thing forbidden... but it was still a temptation. God wasn't trying to force Adam and Eve into something, but rather setting up a situation where real choice was possible, because they were enticed by opposite choices.
It is somewhat similar to our lives now. Many things that are bad for us are delicious or enticing in some way, and very often things that are good for us are less enticing in the same immediate way, or even bitter... thereby setting up real choice, because both are desirable in different ways, and not desirable in others. Good things often require delayed gratification and patience, but are much better choices long term and make us happier overall, while bad things often pay off immediately, but we know that we are going to suffer for them later, if we so choose. God isn't trying to manipulate us into choosing one or the other, but he is setting up a situation where they are real choices. If all the things that were good for you were perfect and delicious and the bad things were ugly and moldy, then no one would even blink at choices, and it would also diminish what we could learn and who we could become, because we wouldn't be facing the tough choices that teach us who we are, and that help us learn to rely on God.
When I talk about beauty in the Garden of Eden, I am not referring to physical human beauty, but even that teaches us the same lesson in a way. Isaiah, referring to Christ, mentions that there is no comeliness or beauty that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:2). A lot of life is a lesson in seeing *past* our physical senses to the spiritual beauty beyond.
Today, let's remember that all around us are good *and* bad things. Sometimes we get spiritual blinders on and can only see the poor choices, but the good is always there as well, each day. God surrounds us with beauty, although it is not always a physical beauty, and sometimes we have to look hard to see it. Let's take action in our lives to make the choices that we have been given and to seek out the things that are both good *and* beautiful, whether physically or spiritually, and let's gather them into our lives, always choosing God and the true, lasting happiness that he offers over the imitation.
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