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Scripture for the day: Genesis 3:8-10 Toward evening they heard the Lord God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees. The Lord God called to Adam, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
Thought for the day: If I were you, I’d be wondering right about now, is there something wrong with Bill’s head? Did he forget that this is just a few days before Christmas? Wouldn’t it make more sense to reflect on the Christmas story rather than Adam and Eve? One would think so, but let me finish. There is a connection; I promise.
Adam and Eve were in the garden for some time before this particular episode in their lives. The Bible doesn’t tell us how much time had passed before the serpent came and tempted them to rebel against the Lord. Perhaps they’d spent only a few days before they fell; I tend to think there may have been many years of peace and close relationship with the Lord in the garden. The amount of time is irrelevant; the point is that they did sin and with that sin came fear. We’re told they often walked with the Lord “in the cool of the evening.” There was no fear of God in the sense of actually being afraid. They had such a close relationship that they could walk and talk together with absolutely nothing between them. What a blessed time that must have been!
But when sin entered the world, fear entered with it. And that’s where we make the connection to Christmas. Go with me once again to the old familiar story. In Luke 1:13 we encounter Zechariah, a priest in the service of the Lord who’d prayed for years that his wife Elizabeth would have a child. Now they were both old and beyond the time when children were even a possibility. Zechariah feared that he would go to his grave with his prayers unanswered. But Gabriel suddenly confronted him and said, “Do not fear Zechariah, your prayers have been heard – and answered.
In this same first chapter of Luke’s gospel, an angel appears to a young lady named Mary who, like any one of us, was terrified. The angel told her of the Lord’s plan to send His Son into the world through her. She was confused, upset, and fearful, to say the least. “How can this be?” she asked. And the angel assured her she needn’t be afraid for the Lord is the God of the impossible.
In Matthew’s account we are given the story of Joseph’s encounter with the angel. His fear revolved around what people would think, how they would react and what he should do about Mary, his pregnant fiancé. Custom, even the law of the land, demanded that Mary be stoned, sent back to her family in disgrace, or at the very least sent away to have the baby in some remote village where no one knew of her shame. But the angel reassured Joseph by telling him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for this is from the Lord.”
And finally, when the blessed event took place, an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds on a dark hillside and said, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good tiding of great joy!” The fear involved in that situation had to do with salvation. Would there ever be salvation for God’s people? Would the Messiah ever arrive to deliver the people from their sins? Would the words of the prophets ever come true?
There is much fear in our world today; I have neither the time nor the memory space on my computer to list all the things that frighten people in our world. But I can tell you this, based on the authority of the Word of God, this Christmas season you can set aside these fears:
The fear of unanswered prayer.
The fear of the impossible.
The fear of obedience.
The fear of salvation.
The answer to all these fears is wrapped up in a child lying humbly in a manger, a feed trough. Because of him prayer is answered, the impossible has become possible, obedience will be rewarded, and salvation is available for all who believe.
The fear felt in the garden is dispelled at the manger.
Now go take on your world. - Bill