Bible Reading: Genesis 2:1-17
You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17
1. WHICH FLAVOR ICE cream is best?
| chocolate | butter pecan | vanilla |
| rocky road | strawberry | mint chocolate chip |
2. Who was the greatest baseball player?
| Babe Ruth | Whitey Ford | Ted Williams |
| Willie Mays | Henry Aaron | Leroy “Satchel” Paige |
3. Which of these actions is wrong?
| eating meat | kissing | singing |
| water-skiing | lying | sleeping |
Now, those questions may seem pretty dumb to you. But I ask them for a reason.
Some people think there is no difference between questions #1 and #2 and question #3. But there is a huge difference.
The first question asks you to make a choice based on your taste. You may like chocolate ice cream, but your sister or friend may like vanilla ice cream best. So who’s right? Both of you, because it’s a matter of taste. Whether you’re talking about ice cream, favorite colors, or favorite songs, different people have different tastes.
The second question asks you to make a choice based on opinion. You may have an opinion about who was the greatest ballplayer ever, but someone else who is equally informed may have a different opinion.
But the third question is a different kind of question entirely, because it asks you to make a choice involving, not taste or opinion, but right and wrong. You see, some things are a matter of taste, some things are a matter of opinion, and others are true beyond a shadow of a doubt. Some things are absolute truths-that means they are true for all people, for all places, and for all time. Those things are true no matter what you like or don’t like; they’re true no matter what your opinion is; they’re true absolutely.
Now, there are some people today who claim that right and wrong are just a matter of taste or a matter of opinion. But God has already revealed to us in his Word what is absolutely right and what is absolutely wrong.
REFLECT: Some things are a matter of taste, some things are a matter of opinion, and others are true beyond a shadow of a doubt. Can you think of two actions or attitudes that belong to each category?
PRAY: “Thanks, God, for the way your Word makes the absolute truth absolutely clear.”
