Thursday, May 1, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Genesis 1-3
Key Verse
Genesis 2:10 — “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.”
Devotional Thought
The Bible opens not with an argument but with a song of beginnings: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Across Genesis 1, the Spirit of God moves upon the face of the deep, and light, sky, sea, land, sun, moon, fish, fowl, and beast answer to His word. Six times the text pauses to say “it was good,” and once, over all of it together, “very good.” Then God forms Adam from the dust and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, plants Eden with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and gives the man a help meet taken from his own side. Here is the world as it was meant to be: order, abundance, unashamed fellowship, and a garden to dress and to keep.
Then Genesis 3 turns the page, and the warmth cools. The serpent, more subtil than any beast of the field, asks, “Yea, hath God said?” Eve sees that the tree is good for food and pleasant to the eyes, takes the fruit, and gives it to Adam, who eats. Their eyes are opened, but not as they hoped; they sew fig leaves and hide among the trees when they hear the voice of the LORD God walking in the cool of the day. Confronted, Adam blames the woman, the woman blames the serpent, and the sentences fall: sorrow, thorns, sweat, and dust to dust. Yet even in judgment there is mercy — a promised seed who will bruise the serpent’s head, and coats of skins to cover their shame.
We read this on the first day of May, when gardens are being planted and the whole earth seems to be answering Genesis 1 again in green. It is a good season to remember that the world we see out the window is not merely nature; it is creation, spoken into being by a God who called it good. It is also a good season to be honest that we still live east of Eden. We still hear voices that whisper “hath God said,” we still reach for what is pleasant to the eyes, and we still hide when we hear Him coming.
But the story does not end in the garden with a flaming sword. The seed promised in Genesis 3:15 has come. Where Adam failed, Christ stood firm; where we hide in fig leaves, He gives us coats of skins, His own righteousness covering our shame. The God who walked in Eden in the cool of the day has walked among us in Jesus Christ, and He is still seeking the ones who hide.
Reflection
- Where in your life are you hiding from God among the trees, and what would it look like to answer honestly when He asks, “Where art thou?”
- Adam and Eve reached for wisdom apart from God. What is one good thing you are tempted to grasp at on your own terms rather than receive from His hand?
Prayer
LORD God, Maker of heaven and earth, we bless You for the goodness of Your creation and for the breath of life in our nostrils. Forgive us for the times we have listened to the serpent’s whisper, taken what You forbade, and hidden from Your voice in the cool of the day. Thank You that even in judgment You showed mercy, promising a seed to bruise the serpent’s head and clothing Your guilty children with skins. Clothe us afresh in Christ. Teach us to walk with You in the garden of this day without shame, trusting Your word above every other voice, until we dwell with You where the tree of life blooms forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.