Genesis 3:8-13. 8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Have you ever played the game “hide and seek?” Sometimes we try to play hide and seek with God. Adam and Eve did. After they sinned, they tried to hide in the trees hoping that God would not seek them or find them. But God is the best seeker ever. He will never let us stay hidden for long. He will always expose, or uncover, us. Not just physically, but also spiritually. He will expose what is in our hearts. How? With questions.
Notice all the questions that God asks Adam and Eve as he shows up for their daily walk in the cool of the day. What questions do you hear?
- Where are you?
- Who told you that you were naked?
- Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
- What is this that you have done?
Why does God ask us questions? It’s not so that he can figure out what happened, or so that he can gain information. God already knows everything, including why you did what you did. God wants to expose us so that we can know and understand ourselves. This is extremely important as you are growing up – knowing why you do what you do.
Parents, Christian author and speaker Paul Tripp gives these five questions that you should ask your children when disciplining them: What was going on? What were you thinking/feeling? What did you do in response? Why did you do it? What was the result? These questions allow the heart to be discipled instead of just punishing the behavior. They reveal the internal motivations of a person.
Read Genesis 3:8-13 again. How does Adam respond to God’s questions? Well, technically, he doesn’t lie, but he tries to blame both Eve and God for what happened – The woman YOU gave to be with me. This reveals Adam’s heart doesn’t it? He is not ready to accept responsibility for what he did, and he does not really trust God, does he?
When we find ourselves exposed (caught in the act), one of two things can happen. We can repent and run toward God, or we can make excuses for our actions and blame everyone else but ourselves. That’s what Adam did. And honestly, we are all like Adam at times. We still hide from God out of fear. But God won’t let us hide for long. He loves us far too much to leave us alone.
And the good news is that with Jesus you never have to hide again. He already knows everything you’ve ever done and he loves you anyway. And he likes you too. He wants to walk with you every day, so stop playing hide and seek and start playing follow the leader.
Questions: Do you play hide and seek with God or follow the leader? How does knowing that Jesus loves you and died for you on the cross Help you to stop trying to hide from him by blaming others for things?
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