A Season to Reflect {Five Minute Friday}




One Word Prompt ~ Five Minutes of Writing ~ No Editing
Today's Prompt: REFLECT

Go!

It's mid December and our house like many others are in the midst of the Advent season. Each year we trace the lineage of Christ leading up to His birth with a different story each night. Our immediate family is made up of four separate households. Two have kiddos and two don't. The houses with kids are using The Jesus Storybook Bible with ornaments that we made and the houses without kids are using The Story of God's Love For You. Both books are by the ultra talented Sally Lloyd-Jones and the readings are the same. 

If you are familiar with the books you know that the subtitle say, "Every story whispers His name." Such an appropriate thing to say! Every single story in the Bible points us to Jesus. This year as we reflect back on these things I'm intrigued by what sticks. For me I'm still stuck on day two.

Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and discovered that they were naked. God came along and clothed them and then removed them from the garden. (That's obviously the simplified version.) But what I've been reflecting on while I'm doing the dishes or making the bed or taking a shower, is that covering their nakedness (a.k.a their sin and shame) brought about the very first death. An animal was sacrificed to clothe them. Here's how Sally Lloyd-Jones puts it:
"But before they left the garden, God made clothes for his children, to cover them. He gently clothed them and then he sent them away on a long, long journey--out of the garden, out of their home." (The Story of God's Love For You, pg. 12)
I'm completely struck by the gentle love God has for us His people. At this very moment He knew all that would enfold and He still chose to cover them. I weep as I write this because our sin is not solitary unto itself, it always costs somebody else something. In this case it was an animal but ultimately it would be Jesus.

Let me leave you with the final words from day two's reading:
"Before they left the garden, God whispered a promise to Adam and Eve. 'It will not always be so! I will come to rescue you! And when I do, I'm going to do battle against the snake, I'll get rid of the sin and the dark and the sadness you let in here. I'm coming back for you!'
And he would. One day, God himself would come." (The Story of God's Love For You, pg. 14)
Stop!

Feeling inspired to write? Link up with us here at Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday.


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