The Beginning. 27

 

would not have been pleasing to God. He
had given them all good things; and, best of
all, He gave them the power of pleasing Him
by obeying Him, if they liked. He left their
choice free; they could obey if they liked,
they could disobey if they liked. That is
the only way in which their obedience could
really show that they loved God and wanted
to serve Him; therefore it was the only way
in which their obedience could be pleasing to
Him. And so it is with us; God wishes us
to serve Him because we love Him and wish
to serve Him, not because we must. It is so
with ourselves, in a way. I should not care
for you to do things for me only because you
could not help it. If I thought you /ked to
do them, then I should be pleased.

“So you see there was no help for it. If
man had to learn to please God by his
obedience, he must run the risk of diso,
bedience. And there must be some trial to
show whether he would obey or not. It
mattered very little what the trial was, so
that it was a trial ; and God appointed one for
Adam and Eve that was suited to their way
of life and the place in which they lived.

“It was this. In the beautiful garden there
was a tree, which was called the Tree of