The story is told of a preacher who went to visit one of the elderly ladies of the congregation. He knocked on the door, yet there was no answer. So he knocked a little louder knowing that the woman was a bit hard of hearing. Still no answer. The preacher took out one of his business cards and wrote the scripture reference Revelation 3:20 on the back and stuck it in the door. The woman later looked up the verse and it said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
The following Sunday, as the preacher stood in the back after services and the people filed out greeting him, the elderly woman whom he had gone to visit came up to him and handed him a small slip of paper with the scripture reference of Genesis 3:10. The preacher thought about the verse but couldn’t recall what it said. After everyone had left, he got his Bible and turned to Genesis 3:10 which says, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
I think most of us have been in a position where we hid from something, especially as children. We may not lurk in the shadows or hide in a closet, but we avoid something we need to face. Maybe it is the dreaded phone call from a bill collector. It could be the friend that we wronged, or they wronged us in some way and now the relationship is fractured. We may need to own up to a costly mistake. There are many situations that make us want to hide.
Of course, Genesis 3:10 is Adam’s response to God when God was in the Garden and asked, “Where are you?” The question that comes to mind is why did Adam really hide? It appears to be a regular occurrence that God would be in the Garden with Adam and Eve. The difference this time was that Adam knew he had done something he was told not to do. Even in Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God took care of their perceived need (clothing) and continued to be with them, though in a different way.
David was the complete opposite of Adam. When he realized that he had committed a sin, he immediately ran to God. After Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba, David admitted his guilt. Notice his words in II Samuel 12:13– “I have sinned against the Lord.” No arguing, no justifying, just an admission of guilt. The heart of God is displayed in the rest of the verse. Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.” There were still consequences, but the sin was forgiven!
In II Samuel 24, David goes against God, and he counts His fighting men. Even his commander, Joab, tried to talk David out of doing this because he knew that God had told David not to do it. After it was done, David was conscious stricken. Look at II Samuel 24:10– “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
God gave David a choice of three punishments, three years of famine, three years of fleeing from enemies, or three days of a plague in the land. David chose the plague. After watching 70,000 people die, David told God to allow His hand to fall on him and his family and not the innocent people. That is taking responsibility and trusting God!
When we are wrong, we need to step up and admit it. When we sin, we need to turn to God because He is the only one who can remove the stain. God already knows that we’ve sinned, the Hebrew writer makes that clear in Hebrews 4:13–13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Let’s be like David not like Adam.
It may not be easy to face our sins and there still may be consequences, however, the burden will be lifted, and we will be washed clean!
Read I John 1:5-10