Once upon a time there were two trees that sat in the middle of a beautiful garden. One tree was forbidden to eat from. But when that forbidden tree’s fruit had been eaten, the other tree became forbidden.

The fruit of the first tree, The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, brought death into the world. Partaking of it brought sin as well. If Adam and Eve had immediately eaten the fruit of The Tree of Life, from this fallen state, they would have lived forever in their sins.

Thus, the two trees represent our lives on earth; our journey’s path from The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to The Tree of Life.

Alma explains:

“And we see that death comes upon mankind…nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God. (Alma 12:24)

How important is this path? Is there only one path or are there many? What if we get off the path and get lost? What if the pathway looks treacherous, marred by obstacles, or is completely impassable? What if we get tired along the pathway and there is no bench to rest upon? What if we pass several groups of people having parties along the path and it makes us feel bad we’re not invited? Or perhaps we choose to join them and forget to press forward? What happens if we change our minds and choose not to go on the path at all?

This is why Lehi’s dream is so important to understand. Not just Lehi, but many prophets had a dream/vision of the world that revealed so much. All of the great prophets were shown the lifespan of the earth: Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Nephi, Moroni, and Joseph Smith, and many more. For each one of us, our pathway is open, full of choices that must be met, overcome, and confronted with valiant stewardship and responsibility.

We are a fallen people who must climb the path back to the presence of God. As we experience life we have the opportunity of shedding sin and leaving it behind. Satan, in the disguise of philosophies of the world, preaches to be merry and selfishly take care of all of our own desires. But the Lord tells us to Come Unto Him. When we come unto Him we choose the best part, to act for ourselves and not be acted upon, and we choose liberty and eternal life. By coming unto Him we can be redeemed and ultimately partake of The Tree of Life.

“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of times, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall.” (2 Ne 2:25-26)

Have you ever met a happy drunk or a happy addict, or a happy abusive person? They may fool themselves part of the time, but it won’t be long until they are crying in their soup. Life, for them, has become bitter and ugly. They are addicted to a miserable life and they are no longer free to choose for themselves.

Neal A Maxwell said,

“Urging self-restraint on hedonists is like discouraging Dracula from hanging around the blood bank! No wonder most of the Ten Commandments are self-denying ‘Thou shalt nots.’ Heavenly Father loves his children perfectly, but he knows our tendencies perfectly too. To lie, steal, murder…bear false witness—all occur because one mistakenly seeks to please himself for the moment regardless of divine standards or human consequences. As prophesied, ethical relativism is now in steep crescendo: ‘Every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world’ (D&C 1:16) (Maxwell, CR, Apr 1995)

In our fallen state it is the Natural Man we are fighting against. The Natural Man is in cahoots with Satan to destroy us. The Lord begs for us to let the spirit be our guide with good reason. Our spirit can commune with The Holy Spirit to set a course along the path minimizing life’s pain, suffering, and natural end.

“When you are tempted, buffeted…when you are full of evil passion, and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit…take the lead. But many, very many, let the spirit yield to the body, and are overcome and destroyed.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, pg. 69-70)

Do we need incentive to disengage from Satan’s tentacles? He would whisper in our ears that what fun and adventure happens along the path stays along the path of fun and adventure, but the reality is that everything we hide will be shouted from the housetops.

“Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:3)

There are no secrets along the path. We must be vigilant and valiant in order to be victorious.

“Being in charge of the Endowment House, while the Temple was in the process of construction, Heber C. Kimball met with a group who were planning to enter the temple for ordinance work. He felt impressed that some were not worthy to go into the temple, and he suggested first that if any present were not worthy, they might retire. No one responding, he said that there were some present who should not proceed through the temple because of unworthiness and he wished they would leave so the company could proceed. It was quiet as death and no one moved nor responded. A third time he spoke, saying that there were two people present who were in adultery, and if they did not leave he would call out their names. Two people walked out and the company continued on through the temple.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 112)

The way to minimize sin in our lives is to concentrate on growing our own personal tree. The Lord has shown us how. Think of all of the examples in all of scripture where the Lord uses a tree to illustrate people. And in Alma 32, we learn how to grow our own seed into a tree that is nourished with faith and obedience.

Elder Holland has become so emotionally adamant about our understanding our place on this earth, in this time, and in this journey. He says, referring to the allegory of the olive tree,