All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6, NLT
Read: Genesis 3: 1-19
Have you ever done something bad that you knew you should not do? Actually, that is a rhetorical question. If we are honest, the answer has to be: “Oh, yes!”
Having lived a little, I realize sadly that in spite of my best intentions, I mess up. In fact, I mess up BIG time!
And yet, it is so much easier to look at a neighbor, relative or even best friend and see the many ways in which they have failed us. It is so much easier to do that than it is to begin taking a hard inward look at our actions. Let me be the first to say that I am certainly guilty of that one.
Ornament Symbol – A Fruit
Hmmm…Why or why did they not obey!!”
Sometimes when I see the state of our world today, I feel that way myself. Don’t you?
But then, I wonder. If I were in their place would I have done any differently?? Hmmm….
Today, as we reflect on the story of that first disobedient act, I invite us to take our eyes off the guilty pair. In this story, I can see so much of myself in relation to a forgiving father. I fail Him so many times. And yet there He is waiting to forgive.
Three chapters into Genesis, we see the perfect world that God created for our comfort and enjoyment damaged. And yet God makes the first move towards reconciliation. In Genesis 3:15, we get the first hint of the promise of a coming messiah.
Do you see God searching out the guilty pair asking: “Where are you?” A loving God stands ready to offer the most precious gift to bring them back into a right relationship with Him–the gift of the life of His one and only son.
The wronged father makes the first move to forgive.
REFLECT: In what ways are you called on today to make the first move to seek out and forgive those who have wronged you?
Live deep; laugh much.
I help individuals create space and develop habits and strategies to live a flourishing life — one goal at a time.