Hide and Cover (Lent 9, 2024)

There was a time when mankind was neither afraid nor ashamed. It’s hard to imagine what that world must have been like, but that’s the very world God created and into which God placed the first man and woman.

Something changed in the very moment
Adam and Eve chose to sin.
And sin brings fear.

Adam and Eve knew they had done something wrong. They’d rebelled against their Maker who would give them anything and everything, provided it was good. Satan laughed because all he gave Adam and Eve was evil. Adam and Eve hid.

They hid because sin brings fear and fear of being found out causes people to try to hide what they’ve done. It’s the cover-up. They tried to cover themselves with leaves and hid in the shrubbery.

God had a different cover-up in mind. He covered them with animal skins so they wouldn’t be afraid of being naked. He covered them with grace by expelling them from the Garden of Eden with its dangerous temptation to eat from the Tree of Life and live that way forever. He covered them with love by promising a deliverer who would crush the serpent and its evil ways. He still covers us with His love.

Trying to hide or cover our sins from our loving Father is a completely futile endeavor. God already knows.

God says, “My eyes are on all their ways;
They are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.”
Jeremiah 16:17

If God already knows, who are we fooling? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Maybe a better question is why we hide it from other people? Do we fear their punishment of us even as those forgiven in Christ?

Exercise:

Look at yourself in the mirror. If you’re honest with the person in the mirror, what are you still scrambling to hide? What do you fear coming to light of knowledge before mankind? What lies do you concoct upon other lies trying to keep it hidden from sight from your fellow man/woman? Now, remind yourself that God already knows. Imagine God shining a spotlight on that sin or fear and the light of infinite love willing to cleanse it away by your now confessing what He already knows. If you’re still afraid of its coming to light or are embarrassed by it, read Luke 12:4-5 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” (Luke 12:4-5) and pray about whom to fear.

Join me tomorrow to exercise fearless confidence.

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Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
Last year’s devotionals “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.