WHERE ARE YOU?, No. 453

WHERE ARE YOU?

“The LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’"
(Genesis 2:9).

God loves to ask questions. We notice that when Jesus came to earth that He loved to ask questions too. Of course, God always know the answer, but He wants to hear a personal answer from us.

The first question God asks in the Bible is “Where are you?” After Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit, they realized they had sinned. When they heard the LORD God walking in the garden they freaked out and hid themselves among the trees. God knew where they were, but He wanted to hear from Adam and Eve.

God still asks this question to you and me. “Where am I?” “Where are you?”

Are you hiding from My presence? Are you too busy to listen to My Word? Do you think My thoughts? Are you obedient to My ways or are you more in sync with society around you (Isaiah 55:8, 9)?

God knows the answer, but He wants us to answer Him. He keeps calling to us in the midst of this distorted and deceived society in which we live. He constantly calls us back to Him, His truth, and His ways.

It is interesting that God didn’t ask this question the moment Adam and Eve sinned. He came at the end of the day. The heat and toil of the day was over and a gentle breeze was blowing. It was the time to rest. The time for fellowship.

Genesis 3:8 says: “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”

This is the time of the day God still wants to visit us and fellowship with us. It’s the time when we gather to eat together as a family. It’s the time when we sit around the table to fellowship and discuss things together. It’s the time when we invite God’s presence to our table. And we wouldn’t leave the table without opening His precious Word to allow Him to speak to us and to spend time praying and calling out to Him.

God longs to come to us. Do we long for His presence? Or do we hide? Just as Adam and Eve hid from the presence of the Lord, I believe many families continue to hide from God’s presence. This is the time of the day God established to specifically communicate with His created ones. We should make sure we are not hiding.

Unfortunately, the enemy of God and of our souls seeks to keep us from this daily appointment. He makes sure that all our extra-curricular activities are scheduled for this time of the day when we should be home preparing the evening meal and gathering our family together to not only eat together, but enjoy His presence.

Sports and lessons all vie for this time. Instead of preparing for a meal with God and our families, many mothers and children are still away from home and fighting the traffic. No time to prepare a meal. Grab some fast food. Eat it while looking at the head of someone in front of you in the car!

This is not how we are meant to eat meals. We are meant to sit around a table where we can see one another’s faces and truly communicate.

Far more than sitting together, Satan makes sure we don’t have time to read God’s Word together. He makes sure we won’t be home to pray together as a family--the most powerful, nation-changing, and world-changing thing we can do as a family. Nothing we can do is as powerful as praying together.

Don’t let good things prevent you from doing the most powerful thing. Don’t let Satan trick you to hide from God’s presence when He comes to be with your family in the “cool of the day.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.abaoverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, I thank You that You long to fellowship with us as a family. You love to presence Yourself at our table with us. Help me to make this daily appointment happen. Amen.,”

AFFIRMATION:

We are not a hiding family, but making time to sit with God each day as a family.