Naked and Not Ashamed

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Today's Passage: Genesis chapters 1 and 2
Memory Verse(s): Gen. 2: 25

The most marked and memorable period in history is the Renaissance period, a time between 1450 and 1600 when man repeated history rather than recreating it.  During the Renaissance, which means "rebirth", the advancement of scientific ideas was accepted as the new way to receive enlightenment, while the religious ideas of previous times began to be rejected as the final authority.  This period is also known as the period of humanism or secularism, when human beings turned to themselves for the answers and in the process turned away from God.

You will also note that the works of some of the most famous inventors, explorers, as well as artists and writers come from this time period.  Michelangelo painted the beautiful Sistene Chapel.   Leonardo da Vinci, another great artist, created the Mona Lisa painting.  William Shakespeare's plays are still studied by learners all over the world.  And Christopher Columbus ventured around a world that everyone believed was flat.  How was it so easy for all those gifted and knowledgeable people, who were so much like God, to reject Him so easily?

Because, like Adam and Eve did so many years before, man always chooses knowledge over relationship and submission.  After all the things God created and placed them in dominion over, man still strives to operate without the covering of The Master Creator.  Why?  Because God is a God Who requires total dependence upon Him, and complete adherence to His laws and commands.  In exchange for that submission is peace, life eternal, and no shame.  

Whenever we choose our own path, mistaking the dominion God gave us for the right to ignore Him and live the way we want to, we are choosing to embrace the evil that is always lurking around us.  This evil automatically separates us from our Father and makes us want to hide from His love.  I'd rather be completely His and free from condemnation, than living a life of independence and ashamed of what I've become.  Let's all choose to dwell intimately with Him.  We will live naked and unashamed.  

Prayer: Father, every time I've chosen my own will over Yours, my life has resulted in anguish and pain over bad mistakes.  Please create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.  May I choose time and time again Your love and protection over independence.  I want to walk in complete intimacy with You.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.