15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Vincent ChanBelieve it or not, there’s actually a really easy way to remove sin from your life. Here’s how: simply remove God from the world and you won’t have to worry about sin! Now just in case you’re wondering, I’m not being serious. But the point I want to make is that sin is directly tied to who God is and our relationship with him. Sin is not just doing bad things; it’s doing things that express our denial and rejection of God’s rule over us. We see that here in these verses. The reason why man is told not to eat from the tree is not necessarily because the fruit contained some secret substance that would give him God-like powers. It’s the fact that choosing to eat it would be choosing to disobey God. It would be saying that we can decide what we consider to be good or evil, instead of submitting to what God has told us about what is good. I think this is the hardest thing to grasp about sin. It’s hard because so often we have a small view of God. And when we have a small view of God, we will have a small view of sin. But understanding the nature of sin is also one of the most significant steps that we can take in facing it and addressing it honestly. We need to understand that sin is always relational – it always involves rejecting God’s rule and deciding that we can ignore his word about what is good.Here are some questions I find helpful when examining sin in my life: ·       How does sin show itself practically in my life?·       In my actions, how am I choosing to listen to myself (or the world) rather than to God?·       Have I honestly examined my heart to ask which one I love more: God or sin?Why don’t you spend some time bringing these things to God – and as you do, of course, don’t forget the wonderful comfort of his complete forgiveness of all our sin through faith in Jesus.QUESTIONKids: Why is it important to listen to mum or dad? Everyone: When do you find it hard to listen to God?ABOUT THE AUTHORVincent is an Assistant Minister with our Fairfield congregations.