I have a Women of the Bible devotional that I recently started re-reading. When I bought it several years ago, I sort of skipped around and did more of a topical study and never completed the whole book. This week the book caught my attention and I decided that I would go through it in order this time.
Naturally, the book begins with a study of Eve. Last night the reading was on the fall of man. Having grown up going to church, I've heard this story about a million times. It's easy to assume you already know everything there is to know about a Bible story when you've heard it more than once before. Of course, that's a bad assumption because God can always reveal something new to you in scripture, no matter how many times you've heard or read a certain passage.
Last night I was really struck by Genesis 3:21. "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." In context, this is right after God explains what being cursed will mean for Adam and Eve, and right before they are banished from the Garden of Eden. In the midst of this turmoil, of their sin, of the natural and necessary consequences of their disobedience, God takes care of their most immediate need--a need that has only arisen due to their sin. God is offering them the protection and comfort of clothing. They have to face the consequences of sin, but He does not require that they wallow in their shame. He offers them a better way out of it than they tried to fashion for themselves.
This is how God operates. He desires our obedience, but allows us free will. We all make the choice to sin, we all would have eaten the forbidden fruit in the Garden, I know this because we do it daily. But God is still there, not to give us a get out of jail free card, but to comfort us in the midst of consequences. Like Adam and Eve we can choose to hide in our shame, which only perpetuates it, or we can come face to face with God and allow him to heal it. What a blessing.
Naturally, the book begins with a study of Eve. Last night the reading was on the fall of man. Having grown up going to church, I've heard this story about a million times. It's easy to assume you already know everything there is to know about a Bible story when you've heard it more than once before. Of course, that's a bad assumption because God can always reveal something new to you in scripture, no matter how many times you've heard or read a certain passage.
Last night I was really struck by Genesis 3:21. "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." In context, this is right after God explains what being cursed will mean for Adam and Eve, and right before they are banished from the Garden of Eden. In the midst of this turmoil, of their sin, of the natural and necessary consequences of their disobedience, God takes care of their most immediate need--a need that has only arisen due to their sin. God is offering them the protection and comfort of clothing. They have to face the consequences of sin, but He does not require that they wallow in their shame. He offers them a better way out of it than they tried to fashion for themselves.
This is how God operates. He desires our obedience, but allows us free will. We all make the choice to sin, we all would have eaten the forbidden fruit in the Garden, I know this because we do it daily. But God is still there, not to give us a get out of jail free card, but to comfort us in the midst of consequences. Like Adam and Eve we can choose to hide in our shame, which only perpetuates it, or we can come face to face with God and allow him to heal it. What a blessing.
Comments