Eden was a paradise... what made it a paradise? I wonder.
There were two trees in Eden: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Adam and Eve were to obey, and eat from the one, but abstain from the other.
Note that both trees were together, in the middle of Eden (Gen 2:9).
So, every time they ate from the Tree of Life, they had to face the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and make a conscious choice NOT to eat from it.
This is something very strange to our modern thinking... Namely, that paradise is obedience.
But do not miss the point... First, LISTEN to God; and then, OBEY Him. Obedience TO GOD... Not obedience in general! Not to anyone or for anything.
People often say that ‘seeing is believing’, but the Bible teaches the opposite, that listening is more important than seeing.
We see this in the words of the Shemá prayer. This Prayer ( שמע [sh’-máh]) is the act of faith for the Jews: “Hear [shemá], O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.”
Shemá means ‘to hear’. But it also means to obey and take action. So, one who hears God must be ready to obey Him; and to obey God, you must hear Him.
“The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare.” (Psalm 29:9) Creation hears God’s voice, and it is automatically obedient. Taking action in responding to God’s Will is essential; the hearing and responding must go together. Do you want to hear from God today? Embrace the full meaning of shemá hear and obey.
“A sick man is brought to Jesus, who looks at him. Contemplate the scene closely and meditate upon his words: ‘Take heart, my son’. This is what our Lord says to you when you feel the weight of your errors: Have faith. In the first place: faith. And then allow yourself to be carried like the paralytic did: with interior and submissive obedience." St. Josemaría
Eden was a place of abundance, peace, life, and the knowledge of God. Why? Because it was a place of perfect obedience to God...
This is so contrary to our instincts. We imagine that paradise is total liberty, license, autonomy, indulgence... but we fail to see that, left to ourselves, we use these things in ways that diminish, destroy, enslave and kill us.
Rebellion has a terrible cost, whether we want to see the consequences or not.
This is why James calls the law of God, "the perfect law, the law of liberty" and adds that all who submit to it "will be blessed in all [their] doing."
It is obvious that our Creator would know better than anyone what blesses us. Obedience is paradise.
Some excerpts from Martyn Iles
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