Compromised communion

I've been immersed in the story of Adam and Eve for the past few weeks. We're reading it in all the kid's Bibles that we're working through, and we're doing it on our flannelgraph storyboard as well.

You know when Adam and Eve sin and they hide from God? And then God comes and calls, "Where are you?"

That always puzzled me a little. He's God, after all. Wouldn't he know where they were without having to ask, even if they were really good hiders?

But how tragic to view it as the cry of pain from a God Who loves us desperately.

"Where are you?"

Their perfect relationship with God, their wonderful, pure and holy communion with their Creator was shattered, ruined, horribly marred by Adam and Eve's choice to disobey.

"Where are you?"

They were used to meeting with God in the cool of the evening. They walked with Him as He shared wonderful Truths of the Spirit and revealed the mysteries of His creation. They shared the doings of the day, discussed some new wonder Eve had found in a unique animal, listened to Adam rave about the taste sensation of the fruit salad Eve had made for him for breakfast (no forbidden fruit included). It must have been so amazing.

And suddenly SIN, this ugly choice they made to wrench their hands out of his grasp and, much like my 2-year-old, determine they could do it themselves much better, left a chasm between them.

And God cries, "Where are you?"

His heart-wrenching response to a relationship totally changed.

And even then He saw the cross. He saw the perfect sacrifice. He saw the remedy, the blood that would be used to heal and restore the relationship. Because He loves us and desires to walk closely with us and share every aspect of our lives with our joyful cooperation.