I often wonder what it was like for Adam and Eve, before they fell from grace. Picture, God Himself, walking in the cool of the day with them. Large green palm leaves gently rustle as they walk, talk and laugh together. The smell of the Rose of Sharon and the Lillys in the Valley hangs in the air. The sky, always a perfect blue… and the mornings, they come with a blanket of fresh life-giving dew. The animals frolic, gentle as pets. The things that God tells them they never would have guessed! They knew absolute perfect fellowship with the Creator and Maker of everything! How sweet that time must have been!
They were given just one rule, “Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:17) They had no idea of how things would be, when their eyes would be open, the horror of sin they would see. What kind of power was it that made them exchange the Truth for a lie? I guess we could call it the power in “I.”
God didn’t wire us to automatically love and adore Him. The words of Isaiah teach us, “all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned his own way.” Isaiah 53:6 We as believers love God only by His grace. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1John 4:10
Still, our heavenly Father beckons us to draw near to Him. He sent His Only begotten Son, King Jesus, to bring us back into that perfect fellowship with Him once and for all! Experientially our fellowship with the Father ebbs and flows like the tide, as we walk and deal with sin and correction, but positionally we are in the garden already! God’s word says, “ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you…” James 4:8a We have a purpose in this life, to love God with all our strength, hearts, souls and minds. (Mark 12:30) Enjoy it! Loving God is the easiest thing to do in one sense, the most challenging in another. It never grows old or dull as He leads us day by day.
For now I’m spending time in the book of Songs. There I am reminded of God’s passionate love for His people and our response to Him. May the meditation of my heart of Jesus be this:
“Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.” Song of Songs 2:3-4 Love God first, with passion and surrender, drawing ever near until that day when sin will be no more and nothing can draw us away. Then it will be as in the in the garden, for all eternity's days.
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