But this day is different. They hear the "sound of the Lord God" as he walks "in the garden in the cool of the day". But they don't run to meet him. They don't feel the way they used to. They hide because they are filled with shame, a new emotion for them.
God is calling you too. Are you running to meet him- or are you hiding from him? Shame can prevent an intimate, personal relationship with God. But it's important to differentiate between true sham and false shame. You feel true shame if you feel guilty for your sin. You feel false shame if you feel dirty because another person sinned against you. If you have been wounded by someone else's sin, you may feel a sense of shame, but it is not true shame. Bring true shame to the cross of Jesus for forgiveness. Bring false shame into the arms of Jesus for healing.
If your sin seems too great or horrible to be forgiven or if your shame seems so overwhelming that it can't be removed, remember, Jesus loves you so much that he has already taken your sin and shame on himself. He makes you clean from it. Receive his gift and let him wash your shame away.
- Read Acts 22:3-21. Paul tells the crowd he had been passionate in his persecution of Jesus' followers. He had thought he was pleasing God by destroying those heretics. At his conversion Paul discovered the truth. By persecuting Jesus' followers, he had been persecuting God. Yet God forgave Paul and used him in a mighty way.
In spite of your past- no matter what you have done- God loves you and has plans for you. You can believe him when he says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." Jeremiah 31:3
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