Genesis 3:21 God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them. 

I usually struggle at first to fully immerse myself in a storybook; it takes time to get into the minds of the characters and truly comprehend their motivations. When I’ve already read a bit of the book, I often have to go back to the first chapters to figure out who is who. 

Once you start to comprehend the characters and delve into their lives, they cease to be mere fiction and become real. Eventually, revisiting the book feels like meeting cherished old friends again between the pages, forging a profound, developing relationship. 

And that’s how it is in life, too. We can’t really have a relationship with someone if we don’t know that person. Funny how people who see us from a distance and think, “I could never be friends with them,” become our best friends after a few visits. 

Likewise, we cannot have an intimate relationship with God if we do not know Him. Since you are currently reading and learning about what it means to be intimate with God, it suggests a deep and active desire within you to connect with Him. 

That is why it is so important that we meet with God regularly. We must spend enough time in His Word to get to know Him. They say you can get to know God through His creation – that’s the general revelation of God. There we see our Creator’s handiwork. 

But in the Word, which is called the specific revelation, we learn even more about who God is. Even in the Garden, where His creation, humans, have messed up well and truly and done exactly what they were not supposed to do, we certainly see the greatest quality of God: grace. 

God could have utterly destroyed them right then and there. He could have chased them away to perish in the wilderness. But no. What did God do when they disobeyed? Instead of bringing punishment, He provided them with clothing, sparing them the shame of walking naked in the world. 

Our God is a gracious God. Every day, He showers us with limitless grace. Thank goodness, we don’t get what we deserve. May this outpouring of grace motivate us to spend even more time at His feet and allow Him to change us increasingly according to His image. 

Prayer
Father, thank You for not pushing me away when I want to live outside of Your will. Thank You for continuing to care for me and drawing me closer. I want to live more within Your will, and become more like You … 

Questions
•What are you hiding from among your “trees” today?
•When God asks, “Where are you?”, what do you answer?
•What step can bring you out of your hiding place today? 

Do this now
Think about God’s grace in your life. Write down three ways He has taken care of you when you didn’t deserve it.
Read Psalm 103 slowly today, marking every place where you recognise God’s love and patience in your own life.
Show some grace to someone else. Show through your actions that you yourself live by God’s abundant grace.