So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”  He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”  He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”  

Genesis 3:6-11

 Our three-year-old grandson has the best time playing hide and seek with my mother.  He ducks around a corner and when she walks by, he jumps out and then rolls on the floor laughing at the trick he played.  About a year ago he enjoyed a different version of the game where he hid by covering his eyes, believing that if he could not see us, we could not see him.  Of course, we played along, asking, “Where did you go? Does anyone see Carson?”  It was cute, silly and fun, and we trusted that he would soon understand that the world around him did not disappear when he closed his eyes.

We see a similar level of naïve silliness when, immediately after eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve try to hide from God.  They had regularly walked with God in the garden, enjoying the evening breeze in communion with Him, but on this particular evening, rather than joining God, they crept behind trees trying to hide from Him, as if anyone can hide from God, and similar to the way we played along with our grandson, God asks, “Where are you?”

God knows all, sees all, and is everywhere.  In a similar tragic comedy, Jonah heard God call him to preach God’s word to the people in Nineveh, but Jonah’s hatred of the people there was so severe, he tried to flee from God by boarding a ship heading to Tarshish rather than follow God’s call.  In His own unique way, God persuaded Jonah to do as he was told (see Jonah 1-4).

No one can hide from God, but I recall trying to do so myself and I see others engaged in the comical, silly, futile, tragic behavior.  I recognize it because I did the same thing.  They do things they know to be wrong, then they try to hide the activity, they try to keep it in the shadows, out of the light, hidden behind the trees, and by hiding that part of themselves, by attempting to bifurcate their identity,  they render a portion available for public viewing and the rest hidden from sight.  We might be able to fool the people around us for some period, but the light of truth eventually illuminates every situation for other humans to see.  And God always sees everything.  He is never fooled, so if we are trying to hide our behavior or ourselves from God, the thought is silly and comical because the notion of hiding from God is fundamentally absurd.  

It is also tragic because through Christ Jesus, God offers life.  By running or hiding from Him, we are running or hiding from life, from satisfaction, from wholeness – we are running from the very quality of life everyone seeks, choosing instead to continue living as spiritually dead souls.

God came to earth as a fully human man.  He lived and taught and revealed God’s glory to everyone who had eyes to see, and then He surrendered Himself to the most horrendous death imaginable, all so that He might be resurrected and through Him our sins are forgiven and we gain new life, abundant life, eternal life, wholeness, satisfaction, peace, comfort and rest.  And the Holy Spirit abides with us and in us still.

Are you attempting to hide any part of your life from Him?  Are you ducking behind trees while God asks, “Where are you?”  Why would we possibly hide from the source of life and cling to death?  It is among the most disturbing questions.  

John the Baptist paved the way for the coming Messiah preaching a message of repentance.  He proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2).  He said, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8) and “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).

And when the Messiah started His ministry, He also preached a message of repentance saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:17), and He taught that repentance was critical to gaining life.  Consider the following passage from Luke 13:

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.  Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”  Luke 13:1-5

Some asked Jesus whether worshipers killed while offering sacrifices were destroyed because of their sin?  Jesus answered, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”  He says this twice.  Repent or you will perish.  Repent, believe and receive the gift of new life, His holy transformation, or continue living in death and perish there.

God sees everything we do.  He knows everything about each of us.  Trying to hide any aspect of our lives from God is like a toddler hiding by covering his eyes.  Whatever it is in your life that needs to be exposed, turn away from it.  Hate it enough to turn away from it and turn to God.  Confess it all and turn to God.

May the blood of Christ Jesus continuously cleanse you of all unrighteousness, may His light fill you, illuminate every crevice in your heart, and flow through you out into the world.  Amen.