Many people have bought the L.I.E.—Loot Is Everything—because Adam and Eve did. Genesis 2 notes that Adam and Eve had it all, and they really had it all—no wishful thinking, no bills, no body aches, no wants, no worries, and no frustration. They had each other in the perfect “made in heaven” relationship of loving intimacy, friendship, kindness, and respect. Adam and Eve possessed and lived in a nature park-like mansion, “owned” a river that divided into four more rivers (two are still identified today in Iraq each over 600 miles long where Eden existed). They had land bigger than the size of Texas, enough pure gold, genuine pearls, and onyx to leave a trail from one end of a river to another. They had forests, beaches, oasis, mountains, prairies, and golf course landscaping. They were given power and responsibility as Kingdom Agents to rule and subdue the rest of creation including the management and authority to name every single living and moving thing—every bug, bird, animal and fish were named by Adam and Eve. And every creature was subject to them. They had security for themselves and inheritance for their children to come. Adam and Eve literally had title of the Earth. Still, there was one tiny, very small part of the whole earth they did not have—a tree. They didn’t have, didn’t own, one tree. Just one tree. The Lord requested Adam and Eve, who stood as the sole receivers of the Earth and Representatives of all mankind, to recognize one, just one, itsy bitsy tiny request. “You are free to eat from any tree, but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16). Assurance of life to them, immortal life, was theirs if they would honor this one request asked of God their Creator. In respecting and observing this request, they were guaranteed their residence in this land of paradise for themselves and their kids, and grandchildren, and so on, forever.

This request required a decision. Adam and Eve were not controlled or dominated. They had the liberty to rise and rest as they chose, to fellowship with the Lord and each other when they decided to, to work the land as needed, not as demanded. God didn’t brainwash or program them to think and act as robots. Adam and Eve were given freedom—free will to choose a banana or a grape, to choose when to get up in the morning, to choose where to supervise their Kingdom that day, to choose under which giant oak tree to nap. They had freedom to choose whether to focus on their paradise, or to focus on the one forbidden tree out of thousands.

At first, Adam and Eve must have passed the forbidden tree many times without a thought—respecting and observing God’s one request in appreciation for all that had been given to them. After some time, perhaps they would look at the one tree not in their possession as they walked to the river to swim. They didn’t talk to each other about the forbidden tree, but they each knew it was permanently off limits or as God told them, the consequence would be “they will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). One day Eve walked up to the tree, stopped and stared at it—focusing on the one thing she didn’t have. She dismissed the truth, denied the existence of repercussions, and justified listening to the words of a snake over the Word of God. The rest is history.

Many people choose to focus on what they lack, what’s unfair, what they should have and are soon blinded from the blessings already bestowed to them. Like Adam and Eve, the given abundance is lost in the lack they seek to have. These individuals focus on the one tree—the one thing they don’t have, don’t possess, don’t experience. What they do have is taken for granted. You can’t appreciate what you take for granted. In fact, you may be convinced that because you don’t have those things desired, that you’re a victim of an unfair life. You may blame this and that, and so and so for what is lacking in your life. You might believe that because of what has happened to you in life, you can’t get what you long for. Feeling like a victim, the sad reality is that you’ll continue to attract or be attracted to situations that cause you to feel like a victim. YUK! The reality that you have everything you need, right now, to be happy may be dismissed with a sarcastic “Yeah, right.” Elbert Hubbard says “I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I’m not able to appreciate.” When life gangs up on you, all the struggling aspects of living seem to take the stage and the positive advantages of your life—the blessings—seem to be missing from the role of credits.

Sarah Ban Breathnach shares this story in The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude:

When you get lost in negative thoughts, your blessings are forgotten. You may be bitter over past misfortunes or hurts, and still resent them. People might view you as complaining, bitchy, mean, or grouchy. You may become so envious of others that you act sarcastically or critically towards them. It’s difficult to care about the lives of others because you’re too focused on recalling how unfair life has been to you.

I can honestly say that in every loss I’ve endured and heartbreak I’ve experienced, an enormous gift of amazing abundance came from it. As I look back over the losses of loved ones, the struggles, the anguish, and even the mistakes I made, I see amazing gifts that came from each of them. And gifts that are not simply tokens—like seeing a crying child and giving her a cookie to pacify. Rather, gifts that bettered my life! This is the nature of God—abundance. There isn’t just one leaf, one river, one snowflake, one flower. There isn’t just a single dollar, a single gemstone, or a single piece of gold. These things are in abundance! The Biblical word for abundance means excessive, overflowing, surplus, more than enough, more than sufficient. Jesus said that He came to give life—not just ordinary existence, but life in fullness, abundance and prosperity (John 10:10). This is the supreme message of the Bible. From the very beginning of time, God wants His children to be content and prosperous. On the other hand, you as a believer have an enemy that seeks only to lie to you, steal your abundance, kill your enthusiasm, and destroy your happiness. The choice of what to believe and what to focus on requires your decision—the same decision required of Adam and Eve—are you going to focus on what you don’t have or are you going to focus on a life of gratitude for what you do have? Are you going to believe what God says or are you going to doubt? On one side is God with goodness, eternal life, and “plenty” of all that is necessary for life (2 Peter 1:3) and on the other side is the enemy of your soul who comes to rob you of God’s blessings, to oppress your mind with lies, and destroy an attitude of gratitude. You choose every day what you’re going to believe and who you’re going to believe. Beware of your choice.