October - 3
WHERE ARE YOU?
"The Lord God called to the man, "'Where are you?'" Genesis 3:9
If God were a gambler, we might say he made a bad bet. He bet on a man and woman and lost. He bet they would obey him, accept their position before him, and live in freedom as his faithful friends. But they had other ideas. They thumbed their noses at God, declared their independence, turned their backs, and went their own way. That's not remarkable; it happens all the time.
What is remarkable-even amazing-is God's response. He might have given up in disgust, saying, "Give them the world, and they act like they created it. Give them freedom, and they want to be lawless. Make them my friends, and they wake up with my enemy. Forget them!"
But that's not how God responded. Not then, not now. In a deadly game of hide-and-seek the guilty pair hid from God, hoping he would go away. But God, the relentless pursuer of hideaways, would not let them go. "Where are you?" he called.
His first question was not "What have you done?" Rather, it was a loving invitation to come out of hiding into a restored relationship.
Are you trying to hide from God? Perhaps, like our first parents, guilt or fear has driven you into hiding. Listen: "Where are you?" That's not the call of a judge bent on punishment. It has the tone of a loving Father calling his children to come out of the darkness into the light.
PRAYER
We're grateful, Lord, that you seek us long before we seek you. Don't let our hiding be successful. Help us to hear you and come to you in repentance. Find us, please. Amen.
神要是賭徒，我們就會說祂下錯了賭注，把錢都押在一男一女身上，結果輸了。祂打賭他們會服從祂，接受他們在神面前的身分，作祂的忠心朋友，自由自在地生活。但他們卻另有主張，不把神放在眼內，宣告自主獨立，背棄神，走他們自己的路。這並不希奇，是常有的事。
值得注意的，甚至是使人訝異的，是神的回應。祂大可以放棄，憤然的說：「賜他們世界，他們表現有如是他們創造了世界一般；給他們自由，他們反無法無天；讓他們作我的朋友，他們卻與我為敵，我不要理會他們了。」
然而，神的回應卻不是這樣。那時不是，現在也不是。那對有罪的男女畏罪躲避神，與神玩捉迷藏，希望神會離開他們。但神卻不屈不撓地追蹤逃亡者，絕不放過他們。祂呼喊：「你在那里？」
他的第一條問題並非「你作了何事？」而是慈愛地邀請他們從躲藏的地方走出來，與祂重修舊好。
你是否正在設法躲避神？也許你跟我們的始祖一樣，因內疚或恐懼而躲藏起來。你要傾聽「你在那裏」的呼喚，那不是決心要施刑罰的審判官在呼喊，從語調中，你可聽得出那是慈愛的父在呼喚祂的兒女：從黑暗中走出，迎向光明。
禱告
主啊，我們感謝祢，因祢遠在我們尋求祢以先尋找我們。求祢不要讓我們躲藏成功。幫助我們聽到祢的呼喚，在悔罪中臨近祢。懇請祢尋找我們。阿們。