Advent 2024 : December 5

Several years ago, one of my children (who shall remain anonymous) was sent to their room as a consequence for some misbehaviour. After the time out had been served, the child came back downstairs, apologized, and rejoined the family activities as normal. It was only at bedtime that the truth was discovered: the “time out” had been spent trashing the bedroom! A closed door had kept the sin hidden from dad for a short while, but it was only a matter of time before all became evident.

My child had tried to hide disobedience from me in order to maintain our relationship. It has been this way since that fateful day in the garden when the serpent deceived our first parents into transgressing the commands of their God. Genesis 3:8 bluntly describes their efforts at covering up their own sin:

“8 And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden.”

God had created humans in His image to be WITH them, in perfect relationship, for eternity. Despite this, Adam and Eve not only allowed the serpent to come between them and God, they sought to hide themselves and their actions from Him, presumably in the hope that God could be WITH them, just as before.

Of course, He could not. God had told them that if they ate of the tree, they would surely die. It was all over—at least it should have been. But…

Well, we now know that God had a plan, and the sin of humanity would not supersede His desire to be WITH His people for all eternity. The rest of this devotional booklet will unpack just how He has pursued presence WITH His people throughout time. We can daily rejoice that we serve a God who loves us this much, despite our efforts at pushing Him away.

PRAYER: God, we thank you that while we were still sinners, transgressing your commands and hiding from you, you were steadfast in pursuing us and making a way for us to be WITH you through your son, Jesus.