So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)

You may recognize this passage from last week. As I pondered the meaning of “wisdom,” this story of the Fall kept coming back to mind. What happened? Eve made a bad decision. What is a decision? Decisions always involve choices.  Even a decision by default is a choice to do nothing. As I look back on my life, I can think of so many choices that I made, from choosing to diligently do my homework rather than play outside (or the other way around), to accept or reject invitations for dates and parties, to continue or discontinue my education, to take or abstain from that drink, to hit the snooze or get up in time for Bible study, etc. We make choices as to what to say and when to say it (or to keep our mouths shut), we make choices about what to look at and when to turn our heads. We even make choices about what to think about (that’s a hard one, I know). I’m sure you can identify with me, and perhaps even with me experience the burning of shame for some of our bad choices as well as hopefully the relief of some of our good choices.

Getting back to the passage in Genesis cited above, one of the first questions that arises from the serious Bible student is why God put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden and then told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit. One commentator asked why he couldn’t have at least put a fence around it! I’m not sure we will truly know the answer this side of Heaven, but what seems to make the most sense is that God put it there with the instruction forbidding eating it in order to give us a choice. Our ability to choose is, in other words, free will. God created man for relationship. He is love (1 John 4:8) and He loves us (John 3:16) and desires our love in return (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37). While we are created with the capacity for love, the act of love is a choice, and the way we demonstrate our choice to love Him is through our obedience. So, our choice to obey is demonstrating our choice to love God and our choice to love God is demonstrated by our choice to obey; in either case we are exercising free will. “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands” (1 John 5:3a).

What is wisdom? Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines wisdom as “knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it.” I think that boils down to using what we know to make good choices.

“Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe” (Proverbs 2:11).

In Christ,

Judy