Friday, January 19, 2024
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife [Adam and Eve] heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."
"Who told you that you were naked?" the Lord God asked. "Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?"
The man replied, "It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it."
Then the Lord God asked the woman, "What have you done?"
"The serpent deceived me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."
A relatively frequent saying in the parts from which I hail is earthy: "It's all going to hell in a handbasket." My fascination with this saying as a young boy was not so righteous. I could speak the truth and also be able to say "hell" in front of my parents, and in that instance, it wasn't considered swearing. Adam and Eve's willful sin ensured their world — and ours — was "going to hell in a handbasket" — division, death, and decay would soon spread to everyone and everything in the world. [1]
Adam and Eve sinned, then hid from God. They made coverings for their nakedness to hide from each other. (Hiding is a frequent consequence of the recognition of sin.) Then, they started the blame game. Adam blamed Eve for his sin. Eve blamed the serpent God made for her sin, thus also blaming God. As sin entered the world, it began to sully the undefiled goodness of God's creation. As the rest of Genesis chapters 3-11 shows, sin permeated the world with bondage to division, decay, and death. Neither Adam nor Eve could fix the brokenness they brought to God's "very good" creation.
Instead of playing the blame game, the man and the woman could have confessed their sinfulness. But they chose to blame each other and God's creation as they sought to evade responsibility for their sin. Their rebellion and hiding from God embedded the latent power of sin to wound and mar future generations.
We must avoid the blame game. James, the half-brother of Jesus, challenged us to confess our sins and have someone pray for us so we could find healing. [2] John, the apostle, promised that if we owned our sin — confess it to someone and turn away from that sin — then God would not only forgive our sins but also cleanse us and make us holy. [3] So, let's refuse to hide and play the blame game with our sin. We can confess it and invite God to make us clean because of the loving work of Jesus, God's Son. [4]
Father, please forgive me for my sin. I confess my specific sin, my _____ (name the sin), that I struggle with as you know. I pledge to involve trusted brothers and sisters in Christ to hear my confession. I will ask for their help to turn from my sin and avoid this temptation to sin. Please step in and keep the power of my sin from impacting my children and my children's children. In the name of Jesus, I break the generational power of sin in my family on this specific issue. O, dear Father, I want to be open, transparent, and never hide from you. I know you are my loving Abba Father, who yearns for me to turn from my sin and walk with you in the light. Thank you for your loving grace, in Jesus' name. Amen.
![Illustration of Genesis 3:8-13 NLT — When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife [Adam and Eve] heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."
"Who told you that you were naked?" the Lord God asked. "Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?"
The man replied, "It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it."
Then the Lord God asked the woman, "What have you done?"
"The serpent deceived me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."](https://img.heartlight.org/overlazy/creations/30884.jpg "Illustration of Genesis 3:8-13 NLT — When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife [Adam and Eve] heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, \"Where are you?\"
He replied, \"I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.\"
\"Who told you that you were naked?\" the Lord God asked. \"Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?\"
The man replied, \"It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.\"
Then the Lord God asked the woman, \"What have you done?\"
\"The serpent deceived me,\" she replied. \"That's why I ate it.\"")
Together in Christ is a daily devotional that focuses on what Scripture teaches about godly living in relationships.
'Together in Christ' is written by Phil Ware.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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