January 2 @ Genesis 1-3

Genesis 1-3 (NLT) 

Discover His heart: The One who gives us breath desires our fellowship

As we read our scripture today, we were traveling at the breakneck speed of 66,000 per hour around the sun and spinning several hundred miles per hour at the same time, but I didn’t feel a thing.  At that speed, it seems like life would be a chaotic blur, but instead we enjoy order throughout the Universe. I just don’t have enough faith to believe as some do that this just happened on its own.  That our creative, eternal God brought the universe into existence? This I can accept.

While traipsing around the desert for 40 some years, leading a few million Israelites and providing a place of worship, food, shelter and guidance, Moses somehow managed to find the time to write the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch.  Genesis records the amazing story of creation, the universe and all its speeding parts, as well as our first ancestors.  Remembering how and why we are here provides a firm foundation as we begin our journey through what God is saying to us through His Word. 

@ Genesis 2
I really don’t give much thought to dust.  Other than the occasional writing in it on the surface of my furniture, dust is little more than a nuisance, even though, strange as it may seem, dust is in my DNA.  “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground…” (7)  Even though scientists have tried through the years to clone humanity, to my knowledge, they have not been able to keep our dust out of the mix.  No matter what lofty heights we may reach while on earth, it helps to keep our humility in check by remembering that we, all of humanity, came from dirt.

“…He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.” (7)  This statement has intimacy written all over it.  Please excuse the imagery that comes to mind, but very little we do is more intimate than sharing one’s breath with someone because of the closeness it requires.  And what does His breath give to us? Most agree the breath He shares as recorded here is Hebrew for spirit or soul.  God spoke the animals into existence, but mankind was formed, created in His very own image, and given a spirit to separate it from all other creatures.  We are not an accident or the outgrowth from scum on a rock as some would suggest.   No, our creation is very personal.  Without His breath however, we would not be. 

@ Genesis 3
No wonder the enemy’s first line of attack on mankind was to introduce the element of doubt into God’s love and intimacy with His creation, “One day [the serpent] asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?…‘You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ‘God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.’” (1,4-5)  Was God not honest?  Did He not care for her and want what was best for her?  Doubts.  She should take matters into her own hands.

From this dialogue, we understand who the source of doubt is regarding God’s love for us and His desire to care and provide for us. It is when these doubts come that we must remember why He created us, “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. Then the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’”(8-9)   We were created to be more than mere caretakers of His garden.  God has always, since the garden, and will always seek out His creation for fellowship. He wants to be with us. 

Moving Forward:  Reminded today of the intimacy with God that brought about my life and of the fellowship He desires, my first thoughts are of Him.  As I breathe throughout this day, I will not doubt His love and care for me. 

Tomorrow @ Joshua 1-5