Eden's Blueprintഉദാഹരണം

Day 1

Genesis 1 is filled with God’s design, and you are in it! You were created in the image of God. What a beautiful introduction to the way you are designed to be in relationship with God. You were made to be like God. To rule and reign over the wonders of His creation. He invited us to be fruitful and multiply. He gave us everything we need to survive and flourish.

Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, 'Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.'” & Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them; male and female he created them.” (NLT)

On day six, He created us, and on day seven He rested with us. What a magnificent thought that the day after we were created, He invited us to rest with Him. Our lives started with rest.

Why is rest elusive to so many of us today? Have you ever stopped to wonder what it looked like for God to rest? Did He do nothing? Did He disappear from creation? Did He stop being God for the day?

The clue is hidden in Genesis 3:8, “When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden” (NLT). Could it be that rest to God was when He walked in Eden with those created to be in a relationship with Him in the cool of the evening? There He walked with them. He talked with them. Life flowed from Him and back to Him from Adam and Eve.

By this stage in the story of Adam and Eve, they had already eaten the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad, but it didn’t stop God from doing what He would ordinarily do: walk with them. And in that moment, He called them out of their shame.

Shame will always keep you from rest. It causes you to hide. Adam and Eve chose fig leaves to hide behind. Shame will have you making poor decisions. It causes us to run from our God and from rest. How different would the Bible story be if Adam and Eve had responded by asking for forgiveness? Instead, they tried to shift their shame by blaming others. This is not your design.

Rest is a design feature. It is a part of your design. It is not an optional extra, like when you are buying a new car. You can’t opt out of rest. To do so would cause you to draw closer and closer to burnout.

Application:

Journal your idea of rest. When was the last time you rested? When did you feel life flowing back into you, rather than life only leaking from you?

Close your eyes and imagine walking with God in the cool of the evening. Take time to feel the place you are imagining. Use all of your senses as you pray in this way. Remind yourself, you have nothing to hide from. Jesus removed every obstacle, shame, or fear between you and Him. There is no reason to hide, and shame does not need to have any power over you. What does it feel like to walk with Him in Eden? What would you like to tell Him? Is there something you would like to ask Him? How does He respond if you were to tell Him you love Him?

Now you are praying. Do not fear using your imagination in this way. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “You have the mind of Christ” (NLT). Jesus has designed you to share His thoughts with you. Then, in John 15:4, Jesus says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” (NLT). He has designed you to permanently house His Spirit and His thoughts. He lives within you. He is not leaving you. He has promised to stay with you forever. Let your imagination and relationship with God become a conversation with Him.

Each day, I will ask you to read one chapter of the Bible and find one verse that stands out to you. At the end of the plan, I’m going to invite you to put those verses together and read them as if God is speaking to you.

For today, read Genesis 1 and take note of just one verse that stands out to you.