“But the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:9)

Have you ever wondered why God – the same God who just finished creating the universe – would need to ask what happened to Adam and Eve?  I mean, doesn’t it seem a bit strange that God didn’t have any problem creating the universe, but he lost a couple of naked humans in a garden?

Well it seems strange to me!  Which is exactly why I’ve spent a lot of time wondering about this! 

What I’ve come to believe is that God was giving Adam and Eve a choice.  He wanted them to decide on how they would respond once they sinned.  Will they want to hide from God?  Or will they admit what they’ve done?

In many ways, this is the very same choice we are faced with today.  When we sin (defined as anything against God’s will) do we run to God?  Or run from God? 

From the very beginning of the Bible, Christianity is a religion of choices.  Adam and Eve had a choice to make.  But just because Adam and Eve royally screwed up their choice, God didn’t revoke our choices.  In fact, the Bible is filled with people making choices.  Both the right ones, and the wrong ones. 

Israel had to decide if they wanted to worship God or pagan idols.  Jews had to decide if Jesus was the Messiah or a false prophet.  The Disciples had to choose to follow Jesus and spread his message or live to see old age.  Even today God gives us choices to make.  We are given the opportunity to help those in need, to show compassion to those around us, to reach out with a helping hand.  In short, to actively show the kind of love Jesus talked about.  Or we can turn our back on all of those things.

God never forces us to to follow him or to act in his name.  He always leaves that decision up to us.   

So why should we choose to make decisions that God approves of?  Because knowing God is more important than anything else.  At some point everything else in this world will let us down.  But God will not.  God will always be there, demonstrating his patience and his love.  That alone is enough for me to strive to make the right decisions. 

I don’t want to pretend some of the choices we face are easy.  Most of them aren’t.  And a great many of them involve giving something up.  Often times something we value a great deal.  That’s not always easy to do when you’re tired, hurting, or distracted.  Heck, it’s not always easy when your rich, prosperous, and healthy! 

Of course I certainly make more than my fair share of bad decisions.  But even in my sin I always come back to one thought: I want to run towards God, not away from God.  Sometimes I just take a longer path.