Jon Collins

It appears again with reference to the story of Abraham.

And then you get to the story of Israel at Mount Sinai with the commands, Ten Commandments.

So we looked at those first three stories.

And what we found was this pattern that God's commands are first and foremost directing God's human partners about how to enjoy and discover life.

God's commands are for life.

So the first command for life is Adam and Eve.

Enjoy all the trees of the gardens.

Eat.

Eat of all the trees of the garden.

That's God's first command.

That's a good one.

That's a great one.

And then there's a second part to that command, which is prolong your life by not eating from the one tree that will kill you.

But it looks like all the others, so you've got to trust my word and follow my command.

So that sets the pattern.

We looked at the story of Noah, who's a righteous man who follows God's commands, and it results in the preservation of life for his family and all the animals.

And then we look to Abraham, who's partial obedience to God's commands.

Sometimes he does it, sometimes he doesn't.

And it creates a lot of messes when he half obeys.

But on his best days, he does trust God and do what God says.