The Loss of Fellowship

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto man, and said unto him, Where are thou? Genesis 3: 8,9

       "If It is only in the cool of the day that I can hear Thy footsteps, my God. Thou art ever walking in the garden. Thy presence is abroad everywhere and always; but it is not everywhere or always that I can hear Thee passing by. The burden and heat of the day are too strong for me. The struggles of life excite me, the ambitions of life perturb me, the glitter of life dazzles me; it is all thunder and earthquake and fire. But when I myself am still, I catch Thy still small voice, and then I know that Thou art God. Thy peace can only speak to my peacefulness, Thy rest can only be audible to my calm; the harmony of Thy tread cannot be heard by the discord of my soul. Therefore, betimes I would be alone with Thee, away from the heat and the battle. I would feel the cool breath of Thy Spirit, that I may be refreshed once more for the strife. I would be fanned by the breezes of heaven, that I may resume the dusty road and the dolorous way. Not to avoid them do I come to Thee, but that I may be able more perfectly to bear them. Let me hear Thy voice in the garden in the cool of the day."  George Matheson

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

• Scripture: "Where are thou?" Genesis 3:9
• Observation: It is interesting that God asks where Adam is after he has eaten the fruit of knowledge between good and evil? We know that God can anticipate what we think/feel and hear every word we speak, let alone know where we are at. I think, perhaps that this is a form of a rhetorical question on God's part. He is drawing Adam's attention to the fact that he is no longer in communion with Himself. Adam is hiding. Adam is rebelling. He is frightened of God for the very first time. His fear is not one of "respect" but of the variety of fear that lives in dread of imminent danger. Adam is in panic mode: he no longer trusts God.
• Application: But a God who would sacrifice so much for us all, would surely be happy to forgive? I see this forgiving love so obviously in the life of Christ, and also in his death, and again in him who could not remain dead for long. The one man fully capable of resurrecting himself because his goodness and righteousness would and did defeat death itself. When Adam and Eve fell, it was not simply a problem involving Eve's envy of God's wisdom, but a problem of distrust. She did not trust you, Lord, enough to believe what you told her, even though you were her creator and loving father. Adam, in turn, did not trust you enough to report the incident instead of making it worse by participation. And last, but not least, the snake... (satan) who knowing fully how much you loved them, led your beloved children into distrusting your word. He did this so that they would die and your heart would be crushed by it. He deceived them because of his desire to hurt the father he had betrayed earlier himself.
• Prayer: Dear Lord, I see now that the fall is something all humans experience because we lack trust in you. I am so very thankful that my ancestors were chased from the garden of Eden in order to prevent them from making their fallen state permanent. To prevent all of us from eating of the tree of eternal life while we were yet still prisoners of distrust.  Never let me forget that in you alone, I can completely trust. Amen.

Focus On Illustrating A Poem.

       Lilies are traditional symbols in the Christian church. These symbolize both humility and devotion. I have paired these stargazer lilies along with the poem, Eden Lost to craft a large bookmark for my notetaker's bible/journal. However, if you reproduce a similar pattern onto thinner paper, it would be just as simple to tip-in near Genesis 3:8,9.

Left, is the front side of my poem. I illustrated two lilies using watercolors, trimmed the painting with paper lace, and backed the small painting with pink paper. Right you can see that I wrote the following poem on the backside of the painting and colored the outer edges with a soft pink pencil.

Above, I've included a template for those of you who
would like to paint a watercolor of lilies similar
to my own (above.) Trace the pattern with a soft pencil
directly into the margins of your Bible or onto a piece
of watercolor paper to tip-into your journal.

Eden Lost

by Isaac Williams 

Unto the East we turn, in thoughtful gaze, 

Like longing exiles to their ancient home, 

Mindful of our lost Eden. Thence may come

Genial, ambrosial airs around the ways

Of daily life, and fragrant thoughts that raise

Home sympathies: so may we cease to roam,

Seeking some resting-place before the tomb,

To which on wandering wings devotion

strays.

But true to our high birthright, and to Him

Who leads us by the flaming cherubim,

Death's gate, our pilgrim spirits may arise

O'er earth's affections, and 'mid worldlings

rude,

Walk loosely in their holier solitude, 

And breath the air of their lost paradise.

Focus On Listening.

Brandon Heath sings about "Leaving Eden"