Day One: NAKED AND AFRAID

READ:  Day One of the SOLO Devotional takes us to Genesis 3:1-10.  This is the story of the serpent tempting Eve, her giving in, Adam giving in, and them hiding from God because they ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and were afraid because they knew they were naked.

THINK:  I think that is probably the perfect way to describe how this past week of counseling left me feeling:  naked and afraid.  As I typed that last part, thinking about where I was going to go from there, the realization occurred to me that I have been naked and afraid my whole life.  The only thing last week did was expose that to me.  For my whole life, I have been desperately trying to sew leaves together to hide my nakedness from God.  Sometimes, I was unhappy with the way they looked and tried something new.  Most recently, however, I had finally found something that was working, because I had not been feeling exposed, or naked, or afraid.  Either that, or I had just stopped trying because I wasn't really thinking about God's approval.   (I'm not sure which, but I am confident God will reveal it to me as I make this journey.  Probably when I least expect it, or when I want it the least, but certainly His Timing will be perfect.)

PRAY:  This section says: "There is no better way to begin to understand God's Message than to grasp our separation from him because of sin and our desperate need for him to reconcile our  relationship.  Take some time to confess those areas where you have deliberately rebelled against God." 

I will spare you all this part of me, as this is supposed to be between me and God, but I know the list is going to be much longer than I am comfortable with.  In just the little bit of time that I've been thinking about what I would need to confess, I can tell that there are things that are going to arise that I am going to have to take some time to deal with.  This just makes me feel more naked and afraid.  But, there is hope in the that first sentence.  Only God can reconcile us to Himself.  He has already paved the way.  It intrigues me that the very thing that makes me feel so far away from God is what He chooses to use to make me to see my deep, deep need for Him and to draw people closer to Him. 

The first blood ever spilled on the Earth was a life taken to provide clothing for Adam and Eve, so they could cover their shame.  The last blood ever spilled that could do that, and has done it for the rest of time, was that of Jesus.  (I'll just leave you to ponder that one for a moment.)

LIVE:  This section asks how it makes me feel knowing that everyone on earth has rebelled against God.  And to be honest, there have been many times over the course of the past 3 years, that I have railed against Eve.  What in the world could she have been thinking?  She had it good!  Why'd she have to go and screw it up for the rest of us?   One day, someone offered up a response to that question that stuck with me:  "If it hadn't been her, it would've been someone else?" 

That begs the question:  then, why did God give us the ability to choose?  Or, as my 10-year-old asked:  "If God doesn't want us to sin, then why doesn't he just get rid of Satan?  Then, He wouldn't have to worry about our sinning because there'd be nobody around to make us sin."  I got the chance to explain it to him, but he didn't care for my answer.  He genuinely seemed conflicted about it.  He's not the first person, nor will he be the last to wonder why God made it so darn easy for us to sin if He doesn't want us to.

The answer is:  if He hadn't given us the ability to choose, we wouldn't have had a relationship.  What God wants from/for us, more than anything, is a relationship.  That is why we have to have the ability to choose.  We have to be able to choose Him back!