There is a phrase in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that is very telling. In Genesis 3, we have the heartbreaking story of the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve when they succumbed to the deceit of the devil and disobeyed God. But tucked into that story is a little phrase I find fascinating. After Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible says they heard “the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). I just love to think about that! God, the Creator of the universe, apparently liked to come and take a stroll in the garden He had created, once the heat of the day was past.
I can easily imagine, in the days before Adam and Eve’s disobedience, that the three of them walked in the garden together. After all, there was no flaw in the relationship at that earlier time. Why would God not choose to enjoy the company of the beings into whom He had breathed “the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7) as He walked along in the cool of the evening?
It seems reasonable to assume that, just as God enjoyed seeing what He had made (He pronounced it all “very good”), He also enjoyed the company of the man and woman to whom He had entrusted care of His creation. In my mind’s eye, I can imagine the three of them, hand in hand, walking and talking as God explains to Adam and Eve all the beauty He has fashioned for their enjoyment and contentment.
Of course, as we now know, that delightful companionship with God would come to a tragic end. Through Satan’s guile, the perfect, innocent relationship Adam and Eve enjoyed with God would be broken by sin (Genesis 3:13–24). No more would humankind enjoy the blessing of conversing with God while walking side by side through the beauty of a sinless world.
But despite humanity’s sin—from the fall of Adam and Eve until the very present—God has never stopped loving us. He has never stopped longing to be with us, to take our hands and walk with us through the garden.
Our God wants to be with us. In fact, He will stop at nothing to heal and restore the relationship that was broken by sin so long ago.
Our God wants to be with us. In fact, He will stop at nothing to heal and restore the relationship that was broken by sin so long ago.
This
desire of God for intimacy and companionship with you is what makes
possible the trust we see in people like Joseph, Joshua, or the deeply
spiritual and courageous people of our own day. You don’t have to wait
until you are “ready” or “spiritually mature” or “qualified” in order to
walk with God. He will come to you! But He will not force Himself upon
you. It is an amazing and frightening thought to realize that the
all-powerful Creator of the universe has made one thing out-of-bounds,
even for Himself:
He will not compel us to love or obey Him.
He wants us to choose Him freely.
So, the question is not whether God wants to be with you. Instead, the question is, do you want to be with Him?
-Pete
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