WATCHWORD:
8 That evening they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and they hid themselves among the trees. 9 The Lord God called to Adam, “Why are you hiding? 10 And Adam replied, “I heard you coming and didn’t want you to see me naked. So I hid.” 11 “Who told you, you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten fruit from the tree I warned you about?” 12 “Yes,” Adam admitted, “but it was the woman you gave me who brought me some, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “How could you do such a thing?” “The serpent tricked me,” she replied. Genesis 3:8-13
Meditation:
The New Eden
There are a lot of beautiful hymns around Easter time, and one that I really enjoy because I can actually get into the music is “In the Garden”. I’m sure it’s familiar with all of you:
I came to the garden alone, While the dew was still on the roses
And The voice I hear, falling on my ear, The son of God discloses
And he walks with me, And he talks with me, And he tells me I am his own
And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known.
It’s one of those hymns that when you see the lyrics you can hear the music. It’s beautiful.
In a recent Our Daily Bread, the author, Tim Gustafson, reminded us of a Joni Mitchell song she wrote many years ago entitled “Woodstock”. It’s kind of a depressing song because she envisioned the human race being trapped in a bargain with the devil. She sang of a return to the garden, a simpler and peaceful existence with purpose and meaning.
In the actual, scriptural garden, the man and the woman, created by God, displays human qualities by passing the buck, making excuses, being “tricked”. With that, sin entered the world and here we are.
That’s not the end of story. God didn’t leave from there and dessert them, he made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them, hinting at Jesus’ covering our sins.
Gustafson concludes with this: “God didn’t give us a way back to Eden. He gave us a way forward into a restored relationship with Him. We can’t return to the garden, but we can return to the God of the garden.”
What stands between you and God? Anything you want to confess to Him, in “the cool of the day”? Do you know what really gets me in the lyrics I’ve listed above? In the refrain, the repeated phrase of inclusiveness: “he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am His own and the joy we share…” God and you. God and me. Together. That is the New Eden. So be it.
Reprise, In The Garden:
And the melody that He gave to me, Within my heart is ringing
And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known
Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you accepted your Fathers Cup with courage and confidence, despite your impending suffering. Guide me in the temptations that befall me, hide me in your Garden. Lord God, I am sorry for having offended You. Lord Jesus, give us humility wherever pride reigns, pardon wherever offense abides, grace wherever sin abounds; we pray to you; Jesus Christ, risen Lord, have mercy on us. Amen.
