Friday, May 1, 2026
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 first of May arrives with green pushing up through the soil, and our reading begins where everything begins: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Notice that Genesis does not argue for God’s existence; it simply announces Him at work. Out of a formless void, God speaks, and light, sky, sea, and seed-bearing trees come into being. Six times the text pauses to say, “God saw that it was good,” and at the last, over man and woman made in His own image, He pronounces it “very good.” The God of Scripture is not distant or indifferent; He is a Maker who delights in what He makes.
Then the scene narrows from the cosmos to a garden. In Eden the LORD God forms Adam from the dust and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life. He plants trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, gives a river, and gives a command — one boundary in a world of abundance. He gives Eve, bone of Adam’s bone, and the two are naked and unashamed. This is the world as it was meant to be: unbroken fellowship, meaningful work, joyful rest on the seventh day.
But Genesis 3 tells us how the fracture came. The serpent asks, “Yea, hath God said?” — and doubt becomes desire, and desire becomes disobedience. Adam and Eve eat, and immediately shame, hiding, and blame enter the story. Yet even in judgment there is mercy: God clothes them with coats of skins, and in the curse on the serpent He promises a seed who will bruise his head. The flaming sword bars the way to the tree of life — but the promise of a Redeemer has already been spoken.
What does this ask of us as spring unfolds? It asks us to see the world as God’s handiwork, and ourselves as those who bear His image. It asks us to name honestly the places where we have listened to the serpent’s whisper rather than to God’s word. And it asks us to remember that the God who walked in the garden in the cool of the day is still seeking His children — asking, as He asked Adam, “Where art thou?”
Reflection
- Where in your life have you been hiding from God rather than walking with Him, and what would it look like to come out from among the trees today?
- Adam and Eve were given one boundary amid abundant goodness. How do you respond when God’s word says “no” to something you desire?
Prayer
LORD God, Maker of heaven and earth, we praise You for the goodness of Your creation and for forming us in Your own image. We confess that like Adam and Eve we have doubted Your word, reached for what You withheld, and hidden when You called. Thank You for the promise of a seed who would bruise the serpent’s head, and for clothing us in mercy when we deserved only judgment. Walk with us in the cool of this day, we pray. Give us hearts that delight in Your good gifts, courage to confess our sin, and joy in the Redeemer who has opened the way back to the tree of life. In His name, Amen.