A Few Simple Words

... And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day ... Genesis 3:8

A few simple words that paint such an amazing picture about God and His love for man.They give the impression that this was an outing that they all enjoyed, God included!  I love the thought of God, the Creator of the universe, taking the time to come and meet with them.

In Daniel 6:10 it tells us that Daniel would kneel and pray three times a day and give thanks before God, as was his custom. This phrase, 'as was his custom,' always comes to mind every time I think about or read these words in Genesis about how God would show up in the garden in the cool of the day. It was His custom to come and be with them. We know this because in the rest of verse 8 it tell us that when they heard the sound of Him in the garden, they went and hid themselves from His presence. They were expecting Him to come and they recognized the sound of His approach.

The next verse also consists of a few simple words, but they paint a different picture! ...Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"

It was the first time they didn't come running, calling out words of greetings, full of laughter and smiles. The joy at His presence was missing and instead they were hiding behind trees, ashamed and afraid of Him.

God loves us! He made a way so that we don't have to be ashamed and to hide from His presence. We don't have to live our lives afraid. He made the way for us to come into His presence and spend time with Him because its His heart spend time with us. He loves us!