Pick a Tree

My son hit my daughter with a shoe. It was a heavy shoe, and it was propelled with the force of a three year old. His aim was nearly perfect, and I had a moment of joy as I watched a perfectly thrown shoe land with “Peyton Manning” accuracy right on the side of Phoebe’s head. Of course, my visit to utopia was halted when Phoebe’s scream pierced the silence and I realized his aim might have been nearly perfect, but his behavior was flat out wrong.
Parenting would be so easy if it wasn’t for the kids. With the kids it seems like we spend the 80% of our lives dealing with their behavior - trying to modify their behavior. We all have a million different modification techniques; books have been written, articles have been penned, and seminars have been taught. Most of these, if not all of them, deal with the behavior of the child and how to modify behvior to make the child socially acceptable.
If all we continually focus on behavior, then we miss opportunities to help them become well-rounded young people. We have to realize it’s not really a behavior problem - it’s a heart problem. The behaviors are outward symptoms of an inward heart issue. So, as parents we have a choice. We can look at behaviors only, or we can modify the heart by looking deeper.
In Genesis, God gave Adam and Eve a choice as well. He told them they could eat from any tree except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were told it was good to eat from the Tree of Life, but wrong to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (TKGE). The TKGE was not right or wrong in itself, it was the knowledge of right from wrong.
We always want to blame our current sin situation on Eve’s temptation. But when you look at the words that the Devil used to tempt her, it becomes painfully clear that he was not tempting Eve with pride, or malice, but with her own desire to become more like God. It was a good desire that was in her, but the Devil manipulated those innate feelings and tempted her with the TKGE. By eating of that tree she was stepping onto the path of knowing right from wrong and doing good deeds to get to God. Of course, that is not the tree God wants us eating out of. God prefers that we eat out of the Tree of Life.
Now you might be thinking, “Big deal, Craig!” but it is a big deal. In fact it’s a huge life-changing deal when we realize that God is not looking for behavior modification as much as he is looking for a heart that is transformed. When our hearts are truly transformed, our behavior follows suit. Our behavior is a product of our heart, but the heart is never affected by changing the behavior. That is, however, the world’s view.
How often do we view the Bible as a book of behavioral commands and “don’ts”, as opposed to a book about heart transformation? How often do we focus only on society’s behaviors, and never really connect with their hearts?
Living out of the Tree of Life is a lifestyle. It’s a way to process things, view things, and connect with things. It’s too easy to live out of the very tree that Eve chose. It’s easy to focus on right and wrong behaviors and things that are based in knowledge. It’s a harder path (yet more rewarding) to live and eat out of the Tree of Life. I would challenge you with a New Year’s resolution. This year, live your life from the Tree of Life. I dare say almost every situation can be handled with a life-giving attitude if we try hard enough. That means putting others first, making the most of every teachable situation with our families and children, and treating others as we would like to be treated.