Category: Devotions

Who does God say you are today? That’s not just theology, I’m meaning, your identity. We all have to live from that place.

In the garden, that perfect place, disobedience introduced words that were never meant to exist. Actions that should never have been taken were carried out.

They covered themselves in shame. They hid from the presence of God. Fear gripped their hearts for the first time.

And then came the reckoning.

“And God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3 v 11-20)

God’s questions pierce through the silence: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

What follows is humanity’s first blame-shifting. Adam points to the woman and subtly, to God himself: “The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit.” Eve points to the serpent: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Look at the new vocabulary sin has introduced to creation:

Deception – “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Cursed – “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals!”

War, crushing, striking – “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Pain – “To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Thorns and thistles – “It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.”

Death – “ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

These words tell the story of what went wrong. They define the moment. They could have defined the woman forever. But they didn’t.

Hidden in verse 20 is a profound act of defiance against failure’s labels: “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”

Think about that. In the middle of a passage saturated with curse, death, and pain, Adam gives his wife a name that means LIFE.

It’s important to know who you are.

Of all these many words that could have been used which fit the situation perfectly, this failed woman takes a name from Adam, Eve. Its meaning  is this, LIFE.

Names were synonymous with the nature of that person and was often used prophetically even without awareness of the events to be unfolded. For example, Abel means ‘breath’ or ‘vapour’, fitting for his shortened life.

This is who I am. Even though I’ve failed, sinned and been disobedient. I am LIFE.

Like Joshua the high priest standing before God in Zechariahs prophecy with Satan at his right side to accuse him, the enemy of your soul has positioned demonic angels close enough for you to hear the accusation. The aim is to get you to believe the accusation.

Now what shall I call this woman? Deceiver? Cursed? Death? No! Eve is LIFE.

What will you call yourself after you’ve failed?

The accusations are loud: Failure. Disappointment. Beyond repair. Used up. Disqualified.

What is your identity? You will act according to who you believe you are. If you work at who you are you will live like that. Who are you? Not what have you done?

If anyone is in Christ; he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.

God says I’m a new creation.

This new self, fashioned after Jesus Christ, looks nothing like your failures:

• You are someone who loves people deeply
• You carry God’s anointing
• You go the extra mile
• You walk in patience
• You are free from fear
• You pursue purity
• You demonstrate gentleness
• You operate in wisdom

That’s who you are. Not what you’ve done but who you are.

If you accept the label of your failure, you’ll live in its shadow.

Eve could have lived the rest of her days known as “the woman who ruined everything.” Instead, she became “the mother of all the living.”

You have the same choice.

He asked first. The first search was divine; it came from Him.

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, Where are you?” (Genesis 3 v 8-9)

God had been trying to find man long before man began his search for God. From the moment sin entered the garden, it was the Lord who came walking, seeking, pursuing. While Adam and Eve hid in shame, covering themselves with fig leaves and shadows, God was already moving toward them with purpose and intention.

God knew separation from man long before man, through his many works, would try to bridge the gap. He understood the chasm that sin would create. Long before humanity built towers, constructed temples, or devised religious systems to reach heaven, God had already seen the futility of our efforts and planned His own solution.

God called to man long before man recognised the need to call on Him. His voice echoed through the garden before we even understood we were lost. He initiated the conversation, extended the first invitation, and made the first move toward reconciliation.

Before we shout out “where are you?….. Where are you in my pain? Where are you in my disappointment? Where are you in my fears?” Remember, God was asking “Where are you?” first. His question wasn’t born of ignorance. He knew exactly where Adam was hiding. Rather, it was an invitation to come out, to step forward, to be honest about our condition and receive His grace.

God would ask it again, not of Adam, but of Himself later. He sent His Son, and while hanging on the cross, cried out the words of Psalm 22, asking, “Where are you?” Jesus was forsaken, alone and forgotten. He said what Adam should have said because of his own sin. He said it because sin separates us from God, and Jesus was becoming sin for us, taking our place. In that dark hour, the innocent one experienced the abandonment that the guilty deserved. The separation God felt in Eden when man hid became the separation Jesus endured on Calvary when the Father turned away.

Today, God is still asking, “Where are you?” In that question, there is a desire to walk with man again. It resonates through every generation, every culture, every human heart. It’s not an accusation but an invitation.

There is no reason to feel forsaken, alone, and forgotten when Jesus has stood in that place for you. He has absorbed the full weight of abandonment, so you would never have to experience true separation from God’s love.

God will not ask this question of you, as you worship Jesus, as you acknowledge the work of Jesus on the cross for yourself, as you bow in humble submission to His Kingship. The question has been answered by the cross, settled by the resurrection, and sealed by your faith in Him.

Her failure is well-known. No one forgets what she did. She’s the first woman in history, but she makes it into the pages of the New Testament for all the wrong reasons—because of her failure. In 1 Timothy 2:14, Paul refers to her as the woman who was deceived. Thousands of years later, Eve is still known primarily as the one who took what was forbidden, the one who listened to the serpent’s lies, the one who reached for the fruit and changed everything.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3 v 1-7)

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil stood in the perfect environment as a test of obedience. In a garden where everything was provided, this one tree represented a choice: Would they trust God’s wisdom, or assert their own? But the tree also stood as a prophetic marker of the kind of life that would exist in the place of disobedience, the fundamental human desire to determine for ourselves what is right and wrong, to be our own gods.

The phrase “knowledge of good and evil” signifies experiential knowledge, the kind that comes from doing and experiencing. Eve wasn’t just reaching for forbidden fruit; she was reaching for the right to make all her own determinations about life, morality, and truth.

Eve’s fall followed a predictable progression:

First, she began to doubt what God had said (v1). The serpent’s question—”Did God really say…?”—planted seeds of uncertainty. The enemy didn’t start with outright denial but with a question that made God’s clear command seem unclear, restrictive, perhaps unreasonable.

Second, she began to disbelieve what God had said (v4). “You will not surely die,” the serpent declared, directly contradicting God’s warning. Eve found the lie more believable than God’s truth. She began to see God not as a loving Father who protected her, but as one withholding something good.

Third, she disobeyed what God had said (v6). She “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.” What God had marked as forbidden now appeared good, attractive, and beneficial. She took the fruit, ate it, and gave some to her husband.

In that moment, Eve claimed autonomy. She chose her own wisdom over God’s explicit instruction. And the consequences were catastrophic.

The immediate effects were devastating: shame replaced innocence, fear replaced intimacy with God, blame replaced responsibility, and exile replaced home. Sin entered the world.

How do you recover from such wilful, stupid, selfish wrongdoing?

How do you deal with the consequences when they don’t just affect you, but everyone around you? When your children inherit the brokenness you created? When your legacy is defined by your worst moment rather than your best intentions?

How do you live knowing things will never be the same again? When you can’t undo what’s been done, can’t restore what was lost?

You do your very best at covering over and pretending that nothing has happened. That is one option. One that both Eve and Adam chose to do.

God has created us all for connection. Whether married or single, it matters not, He desired for us to connect with Him first and then with each other. These verses will encourage the marrieds into further intimacy, to embrace the union over independence and understanding over being understood. But it will remind us all, regardless of marital status, that we are created for relationships. Being known in authenticity, in a spiritual community and above all, with God Himself. He wants us to go beyond surface level connections. He cares about our relationships.

“So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” (Genesis 2 v 21-25)

It is v25 that I would like to focus on. “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” This wasn’t merely about physical nakedness. It describes complete vulnerability without fear, emotional, psychological, and spiritual transparency. They had nothing to hide from each other and no reason to hide. No past failures to conceal, no insecurities to mask, no fear of rejection or judgment. They could be fully known and remain fully loved.

This original design reveals something profound about how God intends relationships to function. The Garden represents more than a physical paradise; it was a sanctuary of relational wholeness. Adam and Eve experienced what many of us spend our entire lives searching for: unconditional acceptance and genuine intimacy. Their nakedness symbolizes the absence of pretence, performance, or protective walls. They lived in perfect harmony, unmarred by comparison, competition, or criticism. This divine blueprint shows us that true connection requires courage, the willingness to be seen as we truly are, trusting that love can hold our imperfections without withdrawing.

We now live east of Eden, where shame has become our default. We hide our true selves, fearing that if people really knew us, they’d reject us.

Yet this passage reminds us of God’s original design and ultimate intention. Through Christ, God is restoring what was broken. He is calling us back to authentic relationships: first with Him, then with others. The question is: will we answer that call?

It’s been awhile since I’ve written on something very sensitive and I do so gently, prayerfully because I know of many impacted by this and because it is here in the Bible and I won’t skip over it.

“The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” (Genesis 2 v 18-20)

This is the first time in the garden that God says, ‘it’s not good.’ Had He made a mistake? That would be inconceivable. It was more, “this creation is not completed.” So He continues to create and He does so not from nothing or from His breath but from something He had already created. But first something else happens before He fixes the problem. All the animal kingdom are brought to Adam in some form of naming ceremony.

Can you imagine? How long did this take? Did Adam spend days, weeks, watching creatures parade before him—lions and sparrows, elephants and butterflies? Did he really name everything, even the razorfish and the tasselled wobbegong? The text doesn’t tell us, but we know this: “For Adam no suitable helper was found.”

How long did this ceremony take?! How did he come up with all these names? When he named them all, is that really everything? Did he name the Aeoliscus strigatus (we know it as the razor fish)?!

But something else is taking place. “But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” In this naming ceremony, Adam saw each creature probably in pairs and he becomes very much aware that he is alone. And that’s what is not good. There wasn’t anything suitable for him.

Pause. Only outside the garden (His presence) do we experience pain. At this moment in the garden life is perfect, no sin has entered, so Adam isn’t disappointed or upset.

God was trying to teach Adam something here in the garden. The Hebrew word for helper isn’t a subordinate term, it is actually used for God in the Bible as our helper. It means a complimentary partner. God was showing Adam that there was no one at his level, his equal, there was no one who completed what was incomplete in him.

Adam had to feel the weight of his solitude, even surrounded by all of God’s creation, before he could fully rejoice in the gift of companionship that was coming. What does this teach us?

• Loneliness isn’t a lack of faith or points to some character flaw, rather it is a human need in all of us.
• Even though he was single, Adam was fully human, fully alive, fully himself, created in God’s image and walking with God in perfection, on his own. If you are alone today for whatever reason, this is still a reality for you. This is the call of the garden.
• Outside of the garden, this story obviously exists and it does so with pain and there are no promises here that are guarantees to fix a heart’s desire. So if that applies to you don’t let anyone lay something on you that isn’t correct.
• Adam had to discover what he needed and God took him on that journey of discovery. Sometimes we think we know however understanding can take a while.
• The church is not marriage but it is family. Christ came to create a community, friendship, purpose and place us all back into His garden-presence and though it may not fix everything it is a help to so many.
• Your longing is seen. God sees it. According to this story, it matters to Him that He does. The longing is part of Adam’s story.

Amongst all the trees in that first garden, why did God create 2 particular trees?

“The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2 v 9, 15-17)

God is generous—that’s the critical point we must grasp. His nature is lavish, abundant, overflowing. His hands stretch open wide to you today, not clenched in miserliness but extended in invitation. He is a giver, a releaser of blessings, and the entire arc of the biblical story demonstrates this truth, culminating in the extraordinary moment when the Son stepped into human flesh and surrendered His life for us. Within this divine generosity, the possibilities are truly endless.

How can we be certain of this? Look at the garden: there were all kinds of trees, a verdant abundance of provision, and among them stood a special tree—the tree of life itself. God encourages us to embrace freedom in the garden, to delight in His abundance, to enjoy what He has provided without restraint or shame.

But.

God is also an authoritative figure. He is a prohibitor, a regulator, a gatekeeper of life itself. This dimension of His character cannot be ignored or dismissed.

How do we know this? Consider that one strange tree He deliberately planted: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In a garden bursting with countless possibilities, amid such extravagant provision, He plants one prohibitive tree. Just one. But it stands there nonetheless, unmistakable in its restriction.

Why would He do this? The answer can be distilled to one word: trust.

We all know the temptation, don’t we? That gnawing sense of entitlement to everything, the desperate, almost primal need to be the one who decides what is good and what isn’t. It seems every generation wants to remove that tree, to rationalize it away over some ethic or morality, and ultimately, to escape the uncomfortable weight of obedience. But this understanding of our own depravity is the key that unlocks everything. God doesn’t want us to carry the crushing burden of being our own ultimate moral authority. We simply cannot carry that weight—it will break us.

So very early in the story, God introduces the thought of death into the perfection of what He has created. How would death come? Not through disease or disaster initially, but through something far more subtle and devastating: if we began to reject our proper order in creation, if we tried to become equal to God by determining what is best for our own lives, we would begin to die from who we were created to be. The death would start from within.

We had so much. Abundant possessions. Limitless freedom. Endless provision. But we wanted everything. We wanted autonomy—complete, unrestrained, unaccountable autonomy. Why couldn’t we rest in all the freedom we already had? Why did we have to grasp for command over everything? Why couldn’t we let God remain the ultimate authority of the garden?

These questions are more about today than about the distant past. We still haven’t learned from our ancestors. The same temptation pulses through our veins. But here’s the paradox we must embrace: God’s prohibition is always positioned to protect our possibilities. The boundary He draws is not to diminish our joy but to preserve it, not to limit our freedom but to ensure it flourishes within the safety of His wisdom.

The tree of prohibition stands as a monument to trust, reminding us that true freedom is found not in grasping for everything, but in resting confidently in the One who provides abundantly and restricts wisely.

God is your source. Everything flows from Him. When you’re tempted to gather life from a thousand different streams, He draws you back to the garden, to His presence, where the river begins and never runs dry.

We find a remarkable picture: “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates” (Genesis 2:10-14).

God doesn’t merely provide water for Eden. He sends forth a river so abundant it divides into four mighty streams, reaching distant lands rich with gold, precious stones, and aromatic resin. This is extravagant generosity.

Notice the river flows from Eden, from the place of God’s presence. The source is central, deliberate, life-giving. How often do we try to fill our lives from many different tributaries hoping they’ll converge into something satisfying? But God’s design works in reverse. When we’re rooted in His presence, everything else is watered naturally.

The river separates into four distinct streams, yet there’s no sense of loss. Here lies the paradox of God’s kingdom: the more His life is shared and distributed, the more abundant it becomes. Your gifts aren’t diminished when poured out. Like that original river, they multiply in impact when they flow beyond yourself.

These four streams represent what every believer needs flowing in their spiritual life.

Pishon means “full flow.” This is abundance. Your life was meant to overflow with unhindered worship, generous living, and wholehearted devotion. When you’re connected to the source, there’s always enough grace, strength, and provision.

Gihon means “sweet river.” This speaks to quality, not just quantity. You can be busy in ministry yet miss the intimacy that makes it worthwhile. This stream brings joy independent of circumstances and relationship with God that feels like coming home.

Tigris means “swift like an arrow.” This is divine acceleration and sharp clarity. Sometimes God works with sudden speed, creating kairos moments that require quick obedience and Kingdom momentum. The arrow doesn’t meander, it moves with purpose toward the target.

Euphrates means “breakthrough.” This is the stream of victory. God intends for His people to overcome, to see walls fall and chains break. This manifests as persistent obstacles yielding, doors opening, and fruitfulness in barren areas.

All four streams flow from the same river—God’s presence. As Jesus promised, “Rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38).

Think on these questions:

1. Pishon (Full Flow): Where am I living in “trickle mode” instead of overflow?
2. Gihon (Sweet River): Have I substituted busyness for genuine intimacy with God?
3. Tigris (Swift Like an Arrow): Is there a moment right now requiring my immediate obedience?
4. Euphrates (Breakthrough): What obstacle have I accepted as permanent that God wants to break through?

Answer those questions as you talk with the Lord.

The care with which God prepared for humanity’s arrival reveals a profound principle woven throughout the creation narrative.

“Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.” (Genesis 2 v 8)

This wasn’t an afterthought or a hasty arrangement. Man was placed in an environment that had already been carefully prepared and cultivated for his flourishing.

This pattern of preparation before placement runs like a golden thread through the entire creation account, revealing something essential about God’s nature and His method. Before the sun, moon, and stars were hung in the heavens, God first created day and night and the expanse of sky, establishing the rhythms and atmosphere necessary for life. Before plants could take root, animals could roam, or fish could swim, God first formed the land and gathered the seas, creating the foundations and habitats that would sustain them.

And most significantly, before man drew his first breath, God had already planted a garden, a perfect environment designed specifically for human flourishing. This wasn’t random chance or evolutionary accident. It was intentional design, purposeful preparation, divine forethought.

In the Hebrew language, the word “Eden” carries the profound meaning of “His presence.” This wasn’t simply a beautiful location on earth that God randomly selected for humanity’s first home. Rather, God chose a specific spot on this planet and then planted something far more valuable than any tree or garden, He planted His very Presence there.

Eden was the place where God deliberately established an environment of unbroken fellowship between Creator and created. This was the atmosphere in which Adam was designed to live and thrive.

The environment of Eden, saturated with God’s presence and characterised by unbroken fellowship, was what enabled Adam to truly live and succeed. It wasn’t just pleasant or convenient; it was essential. In that atmosphere of divine presence and relational intimacy, Adam could fully become who he was created to be. The environment didn’t just support his existence; it empowered his purpose.

This principle hasn’t changed. We cannot succeed, cannot fully become who we’re meant to be, cannot walk in our calling, apart from dwelling in the environment of His presence. The invitation remains: to live in the environment of His presence and to walk in unbroken fellowship with the One who made us

Here is a mirror held up to our own existence. Every day, we get the invitation to live out the reality of three truths we will get to read now. These truths are:-

• We experience unexpected provision.
• We remember our humble origins.
• We are sustained by something beyond ourselves.

“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2 v 4-7)

We move into another account of the Creation story and we are blessed to see three things happen, each revealing something essential about how God works and who we are.

• Before the rain falls, streams rise. Water finds a way.

Can you see it? Picture that ancient landscape, no clouds gathering, no drops descending from heaven. The expected source hasn’t arrived, yet the whole ground is watered. Not by the means anyone would predict, but by springs welling up from below, from within the earth itself. Water that should fall instead rises.

Here’s the point: sometimes the answers you are seeking come from unexpected places. Ponder on that.

How often do we fixate on one door, one method, one solution, while God is already opening streams in places we haven’t thought to look? Provision doesn’t always arrive in the package we’re expecting.

• The creation of us came not from a spoken word, but the work of His hands.

Can you see it? Throughout Genesis, God speaks and creation happens. But when it comes to humanity, something shifts. God kneels. He reaches down. He takes dust into His hands and moulds it with the careful attention of a potter at the wheel. God gets down into the dust and gets His hands dirty to create something beautiful.

Here’s the point: we all need reminding at times that what we are walking on is where we came from, none of us are greater than that, God first met us there. Ponder on that.

We are formed from the most ordinary substance imaginable, common dust, humble earth. This should anchor us in humility while simultaneously filling us with wonder that God would choose such simple material to craft His masterpiece.

• Our existence was founded on intimacy with God.

Can you see it? God leans in to the lifeless human, mouth to nostrils, and breathes. His breath pours directly into our lungs, and we become living souls.

Here’s the point: the very core of our lives is to carry the divine breath of God. Ponder on that.

We aren’t just biological beings operating independently. Every breath reminds us that we’re sustained by Someone beyond ourselves, designed for closeness with our Creator from the very first moment of human existence.

Therefore:

1. Be less predictable in your faith. Stop limiting God to the methods you expect. Provision is coming from somewhere, so be ready. Keep your eyes open for streams rising while you wait for rain to fall.
2. We are dust and divine breath held together by grace. Never forget either half of this truth, ordinary material transformed by intimate contact with the extraordinary God.

Welcome to the sacred. To the completeness. To the profound sense of accomplishment that comes not from doing more, but from knowing when to cease. Welcome to the seventh day, a day as vital and significant as all the other six that preceded it, yet different in its essential character. This is an invitation, not to emptiness, but to a different kind of fullness.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:1-3)

Here is rhythm built into the very fabric of existence.

God completes what He begins. There is intention here, purpose, a deliberate movement toward wholeness. The work of creation was not abandoned halfway through, not left unfinished or incomplete. It reached its intended conclusion, and in that completion, there was rest.

The seventh day is blessed and made holy. Not because nothing happens on it, not because it represents a void or an absence of activity, but precisely because something specific and deeply significant happens: we stop our working; we acknowledge that the world doesn’t depend on our constant effort, that the universe continues to unfold whether we are working or not.

The seventh day is a gift for the created, an inheritance given freely to those who are made in the image of God. It comes to us not because of what we’ve done, but because of who we are. It’s an act of grace, a reminder that we are human beings, not human doings.

Here, in the rest, in the pause, in the holy stopping, we find what we’ve been searching for all along in our endless moving: the sense that we are enough, that the world is good, that all is, in its deepest sense, well.

Here is the invitation:

Verses 1-2: to receive the Spirit again, to welcome Him as He hovers over our chaotic world. He has always done this, from the very beginning.

Verses 3-5: to step into order and rhythm from the emptiness and chaos of life; to understand you are called to walk in the light, in the day; and to embrace the possibility that you can discern what is truly good, for you will be able to see.

Verses 6-8: to open our ears to God speaking to you, and He calls you not to give up. Hang in there. It is not over for you. Space is being created for growth to come. Look up today and be thankful.

Verses 9-13: to receive God’s Word speaking to your dry ground. You don’t need more effort or strategy; you need His Word spoken into your life. The same voice that commanded forests from seed can speak to what lies dormant within you. Spring is coming to your dry ground.

Verses 14-19: to pause and witness the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. Failing to do this, we miss the very purpose for which time was created.

Verses 20-23: a day to listen to the sounds of our world that existed before we did. They are still here.

Verses 24-31: a moment to grasp that we bear God’s image. When we understand this truth, everything changes.

And so today, if this is your rest day, enjoy it.