Lifetime Daily DevotionsSample

Can You Imagine With Me?

Let me ask you a question. Why did God create The Garden of Eden?

Let me tell you what I think the answer might be: He was preparing for very special company--Adam!

And then just imagine how it must have been as He shared all of His preparations, His magnificent creations with Adam, his company. Adam, the most intricate, complex of all His creation--the one who was "made in His image." Adam, the one He could talk to. The one He walked with in the cool of the day. The one that He loved.

I think He would throw back His head and laugh with sheer delight as Adam would continually say, "Wow God! How absolutely wonderful!" God would point out certain animals, "Look! See that big gray one over there, Adam? You talk about majestic! And you should hear his call--it's like a trumpet blast!" Maybe they would walk a little further and God would grab Adam's arm and point--"Over there--that huge, furry hulk by the tree. Isn't he beautiful? Let's go scratch his ears. Look! Look at that graceful creature by the waterfall. Here she comes. She loves to be petted." And they would stand and talk and stroke the deer and other beasts would wander up--unafraid.

There were so many flowers. "Come over here a minute, Adam. I want you to smell this blossom--what a sweet fragrance it has!" The bushes laden with berries--the fruit trees. "Try this, Adam. You'll have to lean over--the juice will run down your chin!" And they laughed together and washed off their sticky hands in the creek.

They walked in the garden--together--surveying all of His incredible, inventive genius--together--the incomparable beauty of Eden--together. God, the infinite, all-powerful God, giving of Himself to His creation, man. What did God have in mind? Was He going to be content to just live in the garden with His creation? Walking along the paths? Sitting and talking? I Corinthians 1:9 tells us that "God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ." Does that mean that fellowship with God/ Jesus is very important? Does that mean we are fulfilling God's desire for us when we fellowship with Him? Does that mean God's heart is happy when we're with Him--loving Him--sharing with Him? I think so. Then, God gave Eve to Adam and they lived in the perfection of Eden with God. I wish I could say, "And they lived happily ever after."

But Adam and Eve were told that they could be like God--and oh, they did admire God; they were told that they could be wise like God and set their own limits--and they listened to the lie. They relished the lie. They believed the lie. So sin was conceived and marched ruthlessly into the Garden trampling the violets and the ferns.

Could it be possible--could it be possible--that there were tears on God's cheeks as he took the beloved animals who only yesterday were lying at His feet and shed their innocent blood so that Adam and Eve would be covered? Just so we were covered with the blood of an Innocent Lamb--and did God cry?

God spoke to Adam and Eve for the last time as He banished them from the garden--words they had never heard--words that had been meaningless in God's perfect creation were indelibly imprinted in their minds:

"In pain, Woman, you shall bring forth children"

and in that moment pain was born.

"The ground is cursed because of you, Man, and in toil

and sweat you shall eat of it"

and grief was birthed.

"You came from dust and to dust you shall return"

and death became a part of man's fallen world.

Adam and Eve looked back at the Garden as they stumbled along the darkened path into the bleakness and barrenness of their new world and they saw a fearful sight--an angel with a flaming sword turning in every direction, protecting the tree of life.

They scrambled and clawed their way to the top of a huge rock and stood on tiptoe, searching for a glimpse of God--longing for a glimpse of God. But they looked in vain, for the garden was empty of God. He would no longer walk the garden paths. The paths were now lonely. His friend was gone.

It's just imagination, I know. But if we could interpret such thoughts so they would be relevant for us today, with the understanding that we have, could it be that God is saying to us, "I want to share My life--My world--with you. I miss being with Adam. I long for fellowship"--and so He relentlessly pursues us. Why? He's searching for a friend.