No shame.  Imagine living with no shame, not a care in the world, while living in a world of perfection.  We want days like that, where freedom is felt to the fullest.  We enjoy days when we are living our lives with no-shame. Isn’t that really the best life?!  But then we are tempted by new vices and devices, along with other voices that confuse us and draw our attention from God.  We hear voices that say, “There’s no shame in doing that,” until we do, then we regret doing it and shame covers us like a heavy blanket of guilt and remorse.  “Mama said there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this, mama said”.

As we continue in Genesis, the beginning, we are introduced to the first humans created in the image of God.  Adam and Eve are formed from the dust of the ground that God created.  Male and female, man and woman, He created them to help each other manage the rest of God’s Creation.  Did you notice?  God gave them purpose as soon as they were created.  He put them in charge of what He created!  Adam was given the privilege of naming everything!  How fun is that?!  They traveled lightly, no worries or cares in a perfectly created place of beauty.  They talked with God as God met with them where they were—in the Garden of Eden.  Pure and Holy.

Fun fact:  Adam and Eve traveled so lightly, there was no need for luggage!  Imagine spending zero time in picking out clothes to wear or wondering where to store them! They didn’t have to spend any time thinking about how many clothes, shoes or accessories they needed or wanted, no worries about being trendy in dressing well or being popular wearing they clothes they wore, for they were naked.  No need for certain clothes to protect them in perfect world.  It’s a no shame zone for sin has not yet entered their world of perfection and life forever with God.  They are connected to God in relationship with nothing standing between God and His creation of man and woman.

As God rested on the Seventh Day, let us rest in Him.  Who is God?  Who is He to us?  What stands in our way of close communion that builds our relationship with God? 

As we learned in previous days, we must take time to read, think, pray and live what we are learning as we walk through the Beginning—the Genesis of our own lives.  The story will have a plot twist that will affect humanity forever in tomorrow’s reading.  But for now…let’s imagine Adam and Eve, living with no shame, in a perfect place, with direct communion and relationship with the God who created it all.  There is no one or no thing standing in the way of their relationship with their Creator. 

No shame.  “The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.”

Genesis 2, The Message

Heaven and Earth were finished,
    down to the last detail.

^2-4 By the seventh day
    God had finished his work.
On the seventh day
    he rested from all his work.
God blessed the seventh day.
    He made it a Holy Day
Because on that day he rested from his work,
    all the creating God had done.

This is the story of how it all started,
    of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

Adam and Eve

^5-7 At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

^8-9 Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.

^10-14 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers. The first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this land is good. The land is also known for a sweet-scented resin and the onyx stone. The second river is named Gihon; it flows through the land of Cush. The third river is named Hiddekel and flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.

^16-17 God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”

^18-20 God said, “It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.” So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn’t find a suitable companion.

^21-22 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.

^23-25     The Man said,
“Finally! Bone of my bone,
    flesh of my flesh!
Name her Woman
    for she was made from Man.”
    Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
    The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame.

Lord,

You still warn us not to think, do or say what will lead us to shame and regret, destruction of relationships and eventually death.  You gave us, as redeemed believers, a Helper, Your Holy Spirit, to guide and lead, convict and comfort, encourage and show us the way to live in a no shame zone of freedom—Your Plan!  We know that comes from repenting of our sins, our imperfections, so that there is nothing that stands between you and your created, your beloved.  Thank you for The Plan that makes our relationship possible. Thank you, Jesus, for fulfilling The Plan to save us.  Continue to teach me your ways.

In Jesus Name, Amen