31 Days of Devotion, Day 1 by Andy Postell
Daily Reading: Genesis 3:1-10
If you follow Live2540, it doesn’t take long to realize the world is not the way it should be. Children should not be starving to death. People across the world should have access to life saving medicine. In Genesis 1-2, we find two different creation stories. They assert God’s role as Creator, the goodness of creation, and the responsibility of mankind. However, something goes wrong.
It is important to understand that the numbering of the chapters and verses in the Bible were inserted long after the Scriptures were first put into writing. So our passage today flows directly from “and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” to “now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal the Lord God had made.” You might have heard this story in the past. The serpent tempts Eve, questioning God’s instructions. Eve tempts Adam, and he eats. God calls out to the man, “Where are you?” Adam answers not with his location but with an emotion which signifies for me a statement of his heart “I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
The man and the woman have rejected God’s authority and provision. The relationships that God intended are broken. We see this in the hiding and in the blaming. This is just the beginning. In Genesis 4, Cain murders Abel. Things continue to spiral downward.
Adam’s willful disobedience resulted in paradise lost with the introduction of pain, suffering and death. One might observe that the entire biblical story that follows is a story of God taking the initiative to set things right, to redeem what has been lost and to restore what has been broken. Paul who writes, “For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).
I read this passage and it makes me wonder “what am I trying to hide from God?” For those of us who are taking this 31 Day Devotion with Live2540, might we all ask ourselves to reflect on what we are hiding from God?
Daily Prayer
Dear God, help me to believe your words and to live out my life in a way that is consistent with your Word. Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit who enables me to see the truth about myself and about your initiating LOVE. Amen.