Hide And Seek — A LifeWords Devotion

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (NLT) 

In the ancient story of how Paradise unravelled, we can see the ripple effects of a decision to defy God and declare independence from him. Which is the essence of what we call “sin”. The man and woman try to hide from God. Something has gone wrong in that relationship. The shame about nakedness points to what might have gone wrong in their relationship with one another.

And then there is the blame game. The man blames the woman and even pins that responsibility on God. He gave the woman to the man so he has to take some responsibility. And the woman blames the serpent, a symbol in those days of an evil one.

Hiding and blaming: not quite what God had in mind in those wonderful pure days of the first creation. But when we presume to think we know best and that we can live better lives without God, things go wrong. All around us we see evidence of a world bent out of shape. And within us we see forces and feelings at work that are not what our Maker desires.

The good news is that our God still comes looking for us. He offers help, so hiding from him does us no good at all. But we can only get that merciful help if we face up to our own failings. Playing the blame game will see us beyond help and hiding from the only one who can put things right.

Blessings,

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David