BEHIND THE BUSH

In Genesis 3 we read, “And they (Adam and Eve) 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?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked?”

It seems to me that we have been hiding behind ‘bushes’ ever since this event. In this episode there was the guilt of Adam and Eve who had eaten from the tree from which they were told not to eat. As soon as God came by with the grace to ask him where he was (as if he did not know) Adam said, “I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself.” Of course then comes the famous line, “Who told you that you were naked?”

God still knows each of us and each time we hide behind some ‘bush’ of guilt and shame. The blood sacrifice coverings of an animal replaced their fig leaf coverings. Things changed because as Eve said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Even after coming out of the bushes of sin and failure we can still return to relationship with the Lord through the blood of Jesus Christ.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus