And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed… 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 themselves loincloths…And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 2:25; 3:6-7; 3:21, ESV)
The beginning of Genesis 3 records the biggest negative event in all of history—the fall of humanity. The effects of sin, as you know, are catastrophic and widespread. Because of this original sin of Adam and Eve, all people, in all places, and from all regions are infected with this disease called sin.
We know two truths about every person in this world: They are sinful and they are in desperate need of a Savior.There is probably no other game or sport that can expose your fallacies or weaknesses like golf can. I would be one of the first to admit this is true. It can be embarrassing, especially when playing in front of others. What do golfers do when they can’t take this? Some will walk away from this game, not wanting that uneasy, tense feeling they get when trying to play the tough game of golf.
Once sin entered the world, we see in these verses one of the biggest ramifications from it: shame. Shame is much more than a feeling of wrong or guilt. Shame says that there is something inherently wrong with you. This is why Adam and Eve hid when they heard God. Shame leads us to hiding, as one must not allow others so see how bad we really are.
We live in a world that’s all about showing our strength and not letting our weaknesses or troubles be known. I am a firm believer that this is fueled by shame.
We see back in Genesis 1 and 2 that Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world. We see that although they were naked, there was absolutely no shame. They lived freely together in unity with themselves and with their God. And then they sinned…
And shame entered the world. Here’s what shame did. They looked at themselves, saw the broken, sinful, dreadful state they had become, and they hid themselves. In their hiding, they are saying this: “No one, including my spouse and God, can see how bad I really am.”
Brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus tells you how bad I, Rosson Anderson, really am. Jesus had to live a perfect life, die a brutal death on a cross, and rise from the grave in order to save me from my sins and to be counted as righteous in the sight of God. Does this not prove how bad I really am?
When we keep this in mind, we don’t have to hide anymore. We know two truths about every person in this world: They are sinful and they are in desperate need of a Savior. When we keep this at the forefront of our minds, we don’t have to hide. We don’t have to pretend we have it all together. We don’t have to put on our different masks for our different friend groups or family.
We can just be ourselves. God has you where he wants you and created you to be. He’s got you—he proved it 2,000 years ago as he laid his Son Jesus on the cross to be a substitution for you and me. Now today, live with this in the forefront of your mind. Remind yourselves constantly of what God did for you through Jesus. And live your life in that light, that you who name Christ as Savior are his son or daughter.
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Rosson Anderson
February 28, 2017
Copyright 2017 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.