30 Days with the Word – January 13

30 Days with THE WORD
January 13, 2021

John 1:1-2, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He (the Word) was in the beginning with God (NKJV).’

ZOOM teleconferences opened a whole new world to us especially in this pandemic season. It also opened our eyes. I giggle every time I see the commercial where the gentleman addresses the meeting participants in his underwear because he was under the assumption the meeting was occurring on ZOOM. I imagine one of these days someone will put together a series of botched ZOOM calls; all the snafu, blunders and glitches we encountered in 2020, as we learned to navigate business and separation and life via socially distanced tele-meetings. You know, America’s funniest ZOOMS…WARNING: the following episode contains scenes that some viewers may find hysterical and berserk. Viewer discretion is advised!
Was that the way it was for Adam and Eve, I wonder, when their eyes were opened? When they looked at one another, and then looked down at themselves, and saw for the first time. Is that what caused them to run and hide when they heard the sound of their God walking in the cool of the day? To me, these might be the saddest verses in the Bible.

Genesis 3:7-11, ‘Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 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 the Lord said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from that tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (NIV).’

Still today He is seeking us and still today we are hiding. I am besot by the Lord God, walking, in search of His creation, and His calling out in the shadows and the silence, much as He still does today. “Where are you?” He calls. And our answer is much the same, still. “I was afraid, so I hid.” Again, His reply has not changed, “Who told you?” He asks. Because our God already knows of the lie and where it comes from. He already knows the choice that drove us to stash ourselves away will likely be because of what His Word warned us. What a God, so extravagantly in love with, and careful for, the creation He made for His good pleasure, for His fellowship. And He didn’t even miss a stitch! (The image of Almighty God bent over a sewing machine, or huddled above a needle, sewing clothing for His disobedient children, is enough to bring me to my knees. Then, imagining Him dressing them…like God’s willingness to accept us even in spite of our insolence. Wow! I guess it isn’t any different than my concept of this same God carefully and painstakingly fashioning a figure from mud, breathing His breath into those dead lungs and watching us come to life.

Genesis 3:11, ‘The Lord God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife, and then He dressed them (MSG).’