God of the Garden

Tim Gustafson
Our Daily Bread Ministries
https://odb.org/
All rights reserved-Published with permission

Bible in a Year :

• Psalms 40–42
• Acts 27:1–26

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

Genesis 3:8

Today's Scripture & Insight :

Many years ago, Joni Mitchell wrote a song called “Woodstock” in which she saw the human race trapped in a “bargain” with the devil. Urging her listeners to seek a simpler, more peaceful existence, she sang of a return to “the garden.” Mitchell spoke for a generation longing for purpose and meaning.

Mitchell’s poetical “garden” is Eden, of course. Eden was the paradise God created for us back in the beginning. In this garden, Adam and Eve met with God on a regular basis—until the day they made their bargain with the devil (see Genesis 3:6–7). That day was different. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (v. 8).

When God asked what they’d done, Adam and Eve engaged in a lot of blame-shifting. Despite their denial, God didn’t leave them there. He “made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (v. 21), a sacrifice that hinted at the death Jesus would endure to cover our sins.

God didn’t give us a way back to Eden. He gave us a way forward into restored relationship with Him. We can’t return to the garden. But we can return to the God of the garden.

By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

What stands between you and God today? What might you confess to Him in order to walk in “the cool of the day” with Him?

Father, help me not to blame others for my own faults and failures. Thank You that honesty with You means relationship with You.