Have you ever imagined what Eden looked like? I imagine it looked something like this picture I recently painted—peaceful.

We have a tendency to forget that Eden wasn’t just a physical location, but resides within each and every one of us as we are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Our peace is our God gifted Heaven on Earth, but we have to learn to tap into it, to tap into Him.

In Eden, God created man so that He first had a relationship with him. It was only then He gave him companionship. This was God’s original design, for us to know Him first and others second, for us to choose Him first and others second. Adam made the choice to put Eve before God when he chose to act against what God had commanded. This is what brought disorder to our world. This is what got us cast out of Eden. It’s this sin so many of us keep repeating which keeps us in disorder, perpetually banning ourselves from Eden. Just as Adam and Eve surrendered Eden to the serpent, we surrender our peace to the enemy when we continue to put other people as well as other things before God. When we have any kind of issue in life, our first instinct is usually to bring it to the closest human to us—our significant other, our spouse, a sibling, a parent, or a friend. God wants us to bring it to Him first. Why? Because this brings peace. God is the author of peace! The world may give you peace, but it will never be the peace that He brings, the peace that surpasses all understanding. The closest thing to Eden we will ever see on Earth is when we make an active choice, a commitment to recreate the original order.

Knowing Him is the key to peace, the road leading straight to paradise.