Bone Of My Bones

"And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Genesis 2: 23

       God made the light and the sun, and they were very good. He made the seas and the mountains, and they were very good. He made the fishes of the water, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field - all that wonderful creation of life, which, dull and unbelieving as we are, daily more and more excites our endless wonder and awe and praise - and He saw that it was all very good. He made the herb of the field, everything that grows, everything that lives on the face of this beautiful and glorious world, and all was very good. But of all this good the end was not yet reached. There was still something better to be made. Great lights in the firmament, and stars beyond the reach of the thought of man in the depth of space, sea and mountain, green tree and gay flower, tribes of living creatures in the deep below and the deep above of the sky, four-footed beasts of the earth in their strength and beauty, and worms that live out of the sight and knowledge of all other creatures - these were all as great and marvelous as we know them to be; these were all said to be "very good" by that Voice which had called them into being. Heaven and earth were filled with the majesty of His glory. But they were counted up, one by one, because they were not enough for Him to make, not enough for Him to satisfy Him by their goodness. He reckoned them all up; He pronounced on their excellence. But yet there was something which they had not reached to. There was something still to be made, which should be yet greater, yet more wonderful, yet more good than they. There was a beauty which, with all their beauty, they could not reach; a perfection which, with all their excellence, they were not meant, or made, to share. They declared the glory of God, but not His likeness. They displayed the handiwork of His wisdom, but they shared not in His spirit, His thoughts. His holiness. So, after their great glory, came a yet greater glory. The living soul, like unto God, had not yet been made. Then said God, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." There was made the great step from the wonder and beauty of the world, to the creation of man, with a soul and spirit more wonderful, more excellent, than all the excellence and wonders of the world, because it was made in the likeness of that great and holy and good God who made the world. Hastings

Focus Your Thinking & Lather up with a bit of SOAP.

• Scripture: "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh:"
• Observation: So she was with him prior to the fall, she was one with him, they played side by side, they worshiped side by side, they, he and she walked side by side in the garden with God their father.
  
• Application: Now I toil side by side with him, raise our children side by side, weep with him side by side. We will not part until one of us must return to our father first before the other. That loneliness, I don't know if either he or I will survive. My mother told me once that both she and my father used to lay side by side in bed and pray that the Lord would take them together. But, the answer to that prayer was . . . no. How my mother has grown so very fond of my father, even after his departure. She has learned the measure of true love.
• Prayer: Lord, help my husband and I to endure whatever present or future plans you have made for us and transform our love into something that reflects your devotion to us both, a relationship that glorifies your idea of holy matrimony, not the world's . . . but yours alone. Amen.
  

Focus Illustrating the Scripture.

       I used a few little stickers of birds and apples for this illustration based on three text excerpts from Genesis chapter 2 and 3. "& Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air" Genesis 2:20 and "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh" Genesis 2:23 and "Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3: 1.

       Below are the tiny black and white illustrations that I traced using a waterproof, black ink pen. Then I highlighted a bit of the text.

snake from the garden

Focus On Listening.