Choose Life
M Adam Roberts

Originally, I planned to title this article, "The Tree of Knowledge." My reference was to the The Tree of Knowledge, the tree of good and evil, which, in Christian scriptures, existed in the Garden of Eden, at the beginning.

According to the scriptures, it was with us , in the beginning, and I believe, it is still with us, today. I want to share with you, what I believe that tree to be.

I believe the tree, itself, represents our lives, and the fruit it bares, are the temptations, we are faced with, everyday, that would rob us, of our lives, IF we give in to them.

I believe this tree , and it's fruits , to be real, whether we are believers in the Holy Scriptures, or not.

I am writing this article as a warning, to others, not to eat of the tree, even, as we were instructed, according to the scriptures, from the very beginning. I have eaten, from the tree, as we all have, and I know, from experience, that it's fruits can be deadly. There are some things we are just better off, not knowing, and we need to except this, by faith.

The fruits, of the tree of knowledge, look delicious! They even taste delicious, at first bite. Once ingested, we suddenly realize we have been deceived! We have ingested something, poisonous , and we immediately begin to feel it's effects on our existence. Sometimes, drastically, and immediately. Sometimes, less drastically, and more gradually, but nonetheless, the poison has entered into us, and we will suffer the consequence of ingesting it. It may even cost us our lives.

How do we know that these fruits are bad for us? How are we even to recognize them? How do we even know a good fruit, from a bad fruit, if we don't, first, taste, and see? Do we just go on what others tell us? Which others?

There are always those who tell us, Man, you've got to try this! WOW! It's incredible! It's going to blow your mind. You've got to try it. It won't hurt you. Surely, you're not going to die! Come on, just try it, once. If you don't like it, don't do it anymore. It's as simple as that.

Others, sternly warn us not to eat of the tree. It's fruits are poisonous. Resist their temptation. If you partake of them, you'll surely die.

So, who are we to believe? We as humans, don't like other people telling us what's good and bad, for us. We want the freedom to find these things out, for ourselves. But, that's the problem! This is what I'm trying to warn you about. Once you have the knowledge of something that is bad, for you, it will forever have a powerful presence in the memory bank of your mind. It will become something that you will have to struggle with, for the rest of your life.

Again, what I am telling you, is there are some things you are better off not knowing, and you need to except this, by faith.

In order for us to be tempted, by something, it must have an appeal to us. There must be something about it, that appears, good , to us. Otherwise, we would not be drawn to it. In order to catch a fish, we must, first, bait the hook, with something appealing to a fish. The fish see it's, and thinks it has found something delicious, to eat. Once it bites into the bait, it immediately finds itself ensnared, and it tries to break away, but usually, it's caught, and cannot escape. Even if it does break free, and somehow, escapes, it is left with a scar, for the rest of it's life.

There are some things we are just better off, not knowing, and we need to except that, by faith.

Have you ever heard the old saying, that curiosity killed the cat? This is exactly what I'm mean.

This is how the knowledge of evil, works. First it baits you, to give in to it. Then it catches you, and laughs, at your ignorance. Then, when you try to put it out of your mind, it won't let you forget. It's powerful, because, usually, it is intensely pleasurable, in some way. When you are at your weakest moments, in life, it will come to you, and say, Here I am. Remember me? I can make you feel all better. Come on! Just one more time. Surely, you're not going to die!

But, little by little, if you are not strong enough to resist its temptation, which you are usually, not, you will begin to die. When we are at our weakest, we don't want to be strong. We want immediate relief from our misery. This is why the knowledge of evil has such power over us. Because, at that moment, it provides an immediate, immensely, pleasurable, way out, of our unhappiness. And, at that moment, that sounds honestly good.

Please don't foot yourself into believing you can try something that you know might be bad, for you, just once, and then never do it, again. It doesn't work like that. Once you have the knowledge of its benefit, it's too late. It will now have power over you, until you find The Way to overcome it.

I'm telling you , again, there are some things you are better off not knowing. Let your conscience be your guide. You know what's right and wrong. You know what's good and bad. It's embodied within you. You just have to be wise enough, and strong enough, to make the right choices, and stay away from the wrong ones.

I have a friend who loves to take prescription medications that are not, legally, prescribed, to him, by a doctor, He spends enormous amounts of money, on them, every day. He believes he can no longer, function , without them. He doesn't feel he can, work, without them. They are on his mind, all day long. Before work, and after work. They have become his first priority, in life.

One day, before work, he told me, Mark, you've got to try one of these! They make you feel so incredible! You won't believe how great they make you feel! You'll feel so powerful that you will believe you could just walk over to that tree, and pull it out of the ground! It was a very, large tree. I'll even buy you one, just so you'll know. You really need to try one. It's not going to kill you!

I told him, No thank you. I am happy just feeling normal. I'll deal with life, naturally. I don't need drugs to make me feel, supernatural. It's all a deception, anyway. I do not choose to become enslaved to them. I do not choose, to die, to them. There are some things I just don't need to know, and I except that, by faith.

I don't need to convince myself, first. I already knew.

Temptations will always be in our midst. We must choose to resist them. We must choose life, over death.

I leave you with a scripture, from the Holy Bible. It is recorded in the book of Deuteronomy 30:19,

I hope you will choose life. It's a wonderful thing to be alive!