Devotions this week based on Come Home Week 1 – PLACE (WATCH HERE)
Where God dwells is always home
The Bible presents an interesting and unique perspective on God. He wants to be with us. In fact he takes intentional steps to dwell with us and us with him.
Thinking about other world religions, this truth stands as unique. Allah of the Muslims is a transcendent god who stands apart from people. Hinduism presents multiple gods all represented as impersonal and no personal interest in people. Buddhism presents the escape from the material to a state of being. The list goes on with gods who are absent, uninterested, or simply beyond the reach of humanity.
The LORD God is different.
From the beginning of time, he not only created the first human beings, Adam and Eve, but took the initiative to dwell with them in the very garden he created for them.
Genesis 3:8 states, “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…”
With regularity, the Lord God, walked in the garden to interact with the people he placed there. The first picture of home in Scripture is not a building, but a relationship. Eden is not just a place for Adam and Eve to live, it is sacred space because God is there. He walks among His creation, revealing His desire not just to rule over humanity but to live with humanity.
Unfortunately, this perfect relationship and connection in the home of Eden was broken when sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve to the Lord’s command to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
As we have all experienced, when sin takes place, we avoid being with the person we sinned against. But the irony of God’s heart is that when sin enters, Adam and Eve hide, but God still comes walking. Even in brokenness, He seeks presence.
Sin certainly had its dire consequences. Separation from God’s nearness was felt for the first time. Mankind was driven from the Garden which contained the Tree of Life to experience death. Yet as Adam and Eve left the garden, God already had a plan he was beginning to restore the joy of dwelling together. What sin and Satan disrupted, One would come to destroy death and the power of Satan.
God would not stop pursuing presence with his people.
The same is true for you today.
You may feel separated from God because of sin that you think is too big or something God won’t or can’t forgive. Yet you have a God who loves you to solve your problem of sin through Christ and bring you back into his presence…to bring you home.
Your life may feel unsettled emotionally, relationally, or spiritually. Yet home is exactly where God invites you. Where God dwells is always home. Today that is with you!
Apply: Where am I hiding from God instead of walking with Him? Where do I look for home besides His presence?
Prayer: Lord God, You walked with humanity in the beginning, and You still seek us when we hide. Bring us out of fear and back into fellowship. Make Your presence our true home again. Amen.