“Where
Are You?”
Then the man and his wife
heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of
the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the
Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you
in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told
you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not
to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman
you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to
the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The
serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to
the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and
all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the
days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between
your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his
heel.”
To the woman he said, “I
will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will
give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule
over you.”
To Adam he said, “Because
you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded
you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through
painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
Genesis
3:8-17
Adam and Eve were used to
hearing God’s voice in the garden. However, after they disobeyed Him by eating
the forbidden fruit, they hid from Him when they heard Him calling, “Where are
you?” They didn’t want to face God because they knew they had done something to
face God because they knew they had done something wrong – something He had
told them not to do.
When God called for Adam
and Eve and found them in the garden, His words did include correction and
consequence. But God also showed them kindness and gave them hope for mankind
in the promise of the Savior.
God doesn’t have to look
for us. He knows where we are and what we are trying to hide. But as a loving
Father, He wants to speak to our hearts and bring us forgiveness and restoration.
He longs for us to hear His voice – and to listen.
When
God calls, we need to answer.
Our
Daily Bread – January 5, 2016