Gen 3:9
Then
the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
As parents, we are often confronted with children who
have transgressed in some way or other. And I use the word transgress
deliberately, as it conveys the meaning that they knew the rules, and yet
decided to disobey.
Our reaction normally depends on factors like the age of
the child; the amount of sleep we have had; our stress levels on any given day!
And I know through experience with my own children that there probably were a
few instances in the past where our reaction was less than, shall we say,
optimal? Maybe it came out as:
“What on earth have you done!”
“Did I not specifically tell you NOT to!”
“Where are your ears – why have you stopped using them?!”
But not God. We find our Heavenly Father - knowing full
well how Adam and Eve have deliberately chosen to disobey His one and only
negative command (not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) -
walking toward them and asking: “Where are you?” Choosing to repair the
relationship rather than accusing them and meting out punishment.
We see that during this whole encounter God gave them
ample time to acknowledge their wrongdoing and ask Him to forgive and restore.
He keeps on asking questions, (although of course He knew exactly what had
happened), hoping all the while that they would respond honestly and admit that
they were in the wrong. Eventually He Himself had to mention the eating from
the forbidden tree, and how did they then answer Him? Both of them made excuses
and blamed others for their own wrong choices!
Imagine the hurt in our Abba Father’s heart when He saw
them not responding to His gesture of love - the outstretched hand of
forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration of relationships. His punishment
of their sin was unavoidable, as He is a righteous God, but I am sure that He
gave it with a very heavy heart!
Pearls to ponder:
Let us be quick to repent and truthfully own up to our
transgressions, without making excuses or compromising. This is not to somehow
earn God’s favour and love – we have that already – but for our own sakes, so
that we can continue to abide in our love relationship with our Heavenly Father
without hindrances of our own making!