Day of Praise

Wed, 06/06/18, "Day of Praise"

Genesis 3:8-9 - "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?'"

So, don't you think that when "the man and his wife hid themselves" that the Lord God knew where they were? I mean the Lord God is the Lord God so he's all-knowing. So why did "the Lord God call to the man and say to him, 'Where are you?'"?

Simple. On the one hand, God was giving room for the man and woman to tell their story. And on the other hand, God was not backing them into a corner to make them feel trapped. In this way, God was inviting them to confess their wrongdoing in a way that would bring them back into freedom and fellowship with God.

When you know someone has done something wrong, how do you deal with them? It's easy for all of us, well, I'll speak for myself, it's easy for me to get on my high horse and get all upset and rant and rave and tell people what they did wrong and back them into a corner so they feel totally worn down and ashamed when I know they've done something wrong. (I'm not saying I do that; I'm saying that that would be so easy for me to do.)

However, God's way is not my way. From the beginning, as in today's verse, when God knows someone has done something wrong, God deals with us in a way that maximizes the possibility for restoring not just the person but also their dignity too. God invites us to tell our side of the story, which includes recognizing our error and asking for the forgiveness that God is eager to give so that our freedom and dignity can be restored.

We will all encounter mistakes today. May God help us to handle them as God does so that mistakes will be overcome with the wisdom and love of our Lord.

Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson