Last night, we read through Genesis 3. We talked about how Adam and Eve for were naked and not ashamed (awkward for anyone to read outloud!), and then how that changed when they ate of the forbidden fruit.
Liza was amazed at the fig leaf part. She had never known that Adam and Eve sewed their own clothes out of leaves. "Cool!" she said. And then, the kids all thought it was kind of God to give them more permanent clothes made out of animal skin later. We imagined what it would have been like to walk around without any clothes on. Lots of laughs in our living room last night.
Why is nakedness such an important theme in Genesis? Because nakedness is a sign of trust.
I thought about it yesterday as Carla and I went to bed (hey, don't get any ideas! We were going to sleep!)
I thought about how when Adam and Eve stopped trusting God, by eating of the tree. Then, they stopped trusting each other and covered their nakedness.
The application for me is that I can often be a pretty skeptical person. Is this a result of sin? Would I be more trusting and gracious to other people (in general) if I was more trusting of God?
If I am trusting God, I think it is going to show up first in my marriage. God provided marriage as a unique place for the greatest trust among His creation. It is in a marriage relationship where intimacy ("nakedness") exists in the greatest degree. So, how am I doing as a gracious husband, trusting and loving my wife, being tender and caring, believing in her best personality traits and forgiving as I am forgiven? In the new testament, the test of a minister starts with his family - does he love his wife and care for her? Is he fair in his discipline to his children? It is in our most trusted relationships that our faith and trust in God demonstrates itself best. A good litmus test for how we are doing in our walk with God.
Okay, I'm rambling…
Just thinking out loud,
Joel
No comments:
Post a Comment