December 01 | Pivot Point
Genesis 3:8-15 (NLT)
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:8-15 summarizes the first time in history a child got caught by his parent right after doing something wrong. Adam and Eve now know they are naked and felt guilt and shame hence evil has entered the world through the eating of the fruit of good and evil. And Jesus being the perfect father asks a probing question “Who told you that you were naked?” He already knew the answer to the question; it was really to see how Adam and Eve would answer.
How many times has God asked you a question he already knew the answer to? How did you respond? Did you feel shameful for how you responded or guilty about the way you handled a situation?
This story changed the outlook of humanity forever, it was a pivot point. Considering this Christmas Season what better time to have a pivot point in your life, maybe you feel guilty and shameful about your past or your present. John 3:17 says God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Maybe you’re reading this, and you don’t know Jesus personally. Now is the time for a pivot point. You can accept Jesus into your heart right now and invite him in and he will transform those guilty and shameful thoughts and emotions into life and life abundantly. Maybe you feel stuck in life and need to rekindle your fire for Jesus, you don’t have to walk this walk alone. Allow God to teach you tenderly and lovingly to be in communion with him and walk the walk away from stuck and into his loving arms again!
The best is yet to come.
Merry Christmas!
—Pastor Paul