Only a Father

Hello there and Happy New Year. I sit here typing resolutionless. Reflecting, I am not sure that I have ever kept a New Year's Resolution. Oh, I set them ... every year. I decide to do something ... loose weight ... do less ... find a way to keep my house clean. The list of past failings could go on and on. This year I decided that, although all those past resolutions are still things that I would like to accomplish, I would resist the urge to make any of them my goal. This year I have decided to make a vow instead of a resolution. I have vowed to God that I am going to read the Bible through chronologically no matter what. There will be no failing this. (She types confidently, while praying that God would make it her heart's desire.)

Anyway, It is January 3rd and I am in Genesis. I have read and or heard this story so many times in my life. Little did I know that there would be something in Genesis 3 that would move me to tears. Let's recap. Adam and Eve have blown it big time. They have listened to Satan and have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They are hiding when God himself comes to walk with them in the garden. Pause with me here for a moment ... The Bible speaks of them walking together. Can you imagine strolling with the Creator of the Universe? Talking with Him face to face? Adam and Eve walked and talked with their Creator ... they saw Him. Fast forward a few verses. God lays out their consequences. In my mind I picture them standing before him painfully aware of their makeshift loincloths ... painfully aware of their sin. Shifting back and forth as their creator began to explain the depths of their consequences. I am sure that it felt like their world was shattering ... it was. They knew the LORD. They had walked with Him and talked with Him ... and now He was about to usher them out of the garden forever into a sinful world. How the tears must have been running down their faces as the started to grasp the full implications of their choice.

It was what happened next though that really touched me to the depths of my soul. After God laid out all of the consequences ... just before they are sentenced to a life outside of the Garden separated from Him - spiritually and physically ... He makes cloths, or tunics, made from animal skin for them. Then He clothes them in the tunics. The original word for clothed is abash (law-bash') which means "wrap around." God wrapped the clothing around them. Even after they disobeyed Him, even moments before they would leave the garden forever, God cared for them and took care of them. The way I imagine it, I can see them (Adam and Eve) in tears and shame as the LORD comes close to them and wraps the clothing around them. There is an intimacy in the act. The kind of intimacy that a Father has with his children, even when they have disobeyed. The kind in intimacy and grace that God extends to each of us over and over again.