Where are you with God? Think about that! It is similar to “are you with the team; are you a team player?” Being with God in all things brings a life of happiness, fulfillment, enlightenment, and joy. When God created Adam from the dust of the ground, he gave him dominion over all that had been created, both animals, fish, and foul. As we know, after God created Eve to be Adam’s helpmate the Lord gave them permission to partake of everything in the Garden of Eden with the exception of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” The tempter, in the form of a serpent was cunning, and convinced Eve to eat from that tree, and in doing so they would be “like God” in the knowledge of all things. The rest of the story in Genesis 2 tells us of the pain and suffering that would be brought to mankind forever, for their disobedience to Him. They were then removed from the Garden of Eden never to be allowed to return to that paradise. Along with their removal from the garden came the promise of death for all mankind. Evil through Satan became the ruler of the world.
In life, so many blame God for the bad things that happen in their lives. God is good, gracious, and full of mercy. So how could God take a child, through death, from a family? How could God allow so many bad things to happen to good people? “Why doesn’t God curse the evil people instead? “ Those and other questions and answers are revealed in Genesis 2. Man brought sin into the world, therefore all mankind suffer the consequences. In Romans 2:11 (NIV) we read, “For God does not show favoritism.” We are all judged by the same scale of God. You may want to read Romans 2:1-16 as the description of God’s righteous judgment for mankind is very explicit.
Satan rules this world, and evil is the “path of least resistance.” His ways and desires for us are appealing, fun, rewarding, and many false promises of how good you will feel in all sin. However, we know that the road to heaven is straight and narrow, as told by Matthew in Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV), “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”
God is straight forward in what we must do to enter into the place that is prepared for us. Following His commandments is a must. When we draw our last breath our book of life is sealed forever, and God’s grace for us ceases. Living a righteous, Christian life is not always easy, but it is a must. God holds the keys of living in heaven throughout eternity. We must be on His team in order to have that heavenly gate opened for us on that great day. I want to be there for that joyous occasion. Don’t you?