After I had preached at church one Sunday, when a lady approached me and said, “I have been visiting here for several weeks, and I must tell you something! “ 

Of course I am ready to hear, “We just love this church.”  But that’s not what came out.  She said, “You are youngest looking old person I have ever seen.”  What?  I was about 50 at the time – at an age where I still thought I was 30. 

But things tend to balance out over time.  I have now passed the 70 thresh hold – definitely old!   And I was visiting a senior living facility recently where I learned that one of the residents there refers to me as, “the kid with the mustache.”   Wow!  That’s nice, unless she was commenting on my level of maturity. 

People perceive and sometimes misperceive us.   I wonder though, how we appear to God?   I suppose the answer depends on where we choose to hide.

My mind races back to the garden.  Adam and Eve were given a veritable Eden in which to dwell – blessings and privileges over which we salivate today.  They had the most open and honest relationship with God any two human beings have ever experienced.  They had but one rule by which to abide – but abide they did not. 

The text says, “…she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” – Genesis 3:6-7.

They blew it!  The innocence that once defined them was instantly and forever lost.  They were embarrassed by their fallen condition and thought they could hide it with a fig leaf frock.   

And then the Almighty approached them. “… the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid” (3:9-10).

Their fig leaf fashions weren’t enough.  They hid themselves in the fig tree forest – but the piercing eyes of God saw them.  They were naked in more ways than one.  The righteousness that once clothed them had been shredded into rags. 

We know how that feels don’t we?  There are things that we have done that prompt us to run for cover – to hide from the glare of God.  We knew better but we did it anyway and the guilt of it still clings like a sweaty T-shirt.  

There is just nowhere to hide from God – but – we can hide – in God. 

Paul wrote to the Colossians about how to overcome sin.   The church had already pledged their faith to Jesus.  They belonged to Him. Which is why Paul could say to them, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” – Colossians 3:3.

They were dead but alive.  They spiritually died with Christ on the cross and were then raised in new life with Him (Galatians 2:20).   Therefore, it could be said that their lives were hidden with Christ in God.

The fig leaves could not mask the ugliness of Adam’s sin from the Almighty. But when He looks upon the one who has trusted in Christ, He sees them through the person of Christ.  They are hidden, enveloped by Christ’s righteousness. 

When my grandson facetimes me, he obsessively uses a feature that replaces his image with a cartoon image.  The image mimics his movement, but all I see of him is the image.

Likewise, when God looks at the believer, He sees us through the character and righteousness of Jesus – and He is delighted. It is the best hiding place ever!  Safe, secure and serene. 

So where is it that you are hiding? 

A Prayer:  Lord, I love the security of being “hidden in Christ.”  Thank You

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture references are from the NETBible ®