Wednesday 8 May, 2019

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 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.

Sin breaks our intimacy with God and has a very high cost. Before Adam and Eve took and ate the fruit they were in an intimate relationship with God. They felt no shame before Him or before each other. This sin not only resulted in the loss of intimacy with God but also with each other. When we sin we can feel unworthy or ashamed to come before God. When our sin is exposed we want to cover up and not let God or others know what we’ve done. We don’t want this sin to be exposed before others or before God. But God doesn’t want us to cover up – He wants to restore relationship with us. We can come back into His intimate embrace because of what Christ has done. There is no condemnation when we are followers of Christ.  There is no shame. Take off the fig leaves of shame and walk in intimate relationship with God.

My Father, I come to you in repentance of my sins. I come to you no longer ashamed but claim the victory that Christ has over my sins. How amazing Lord that nothing can separate me from your love.  You know me and you love me. I praise you for your faithfulness and eternal love for me. Amen

Written by Meredith O’Neill