Out of all the trees in the Garden of Eden, why was one isolated from all the others (Gen 3:3)? Well, if you think about it the answer is relatively obvious. God loves us and He created us to have fellowship with Him and choose to follow His commands. There is no true love in a relationship unless we are free to reject that love. God gave us free will to decide if we love Him enough to trust Him, and trust Him enough to obey Him. To love God is to obey Him (John 14:15). Some folks foster the wrong mentality when they hear the word obey. They believe obedience represents legalism and rules. Quite the contrary; obedience is the definition of strength and its power comes with a powerful promise (Exodus 22:23). Simply put, when we are walking in God’s will through obedience, He fights for us! Look at it this way, God’s love is so amazing that even though we all choose to disobey Him more often than we’d like to admit, He still gives us a way to be forgiven, changed, and empowered to love Him through Jesus Christ. God doesn’t want puppets or robots, He ardors for His people to pick up their blood stained cross and walk in faithful obedience!