God’s Idea of Paradise

Genesis 3: 8-10 (NIV): 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

   What is God’s idea of paradise? Have you ever wondered about that? Notice in Genesis 3, God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. You can infer from the passage that this was part of God’s routine. That’s what he wanted from them – to fellowship with him. That is why he created them. And that is why he created us.

    Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” God is stating plainly what he wants from us: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with him. To walk with him means to fellowship with him, to talk to him, to have a relationship with him. It means to pray. I think God’s idea of paradise is walking with us, his children. Walking humbly with him means we acknowledge that he is God and that we need him for our lives and for our salvation. We turn our lives over to his control. It means we put our trust in him.

    Hosea 6:6 says, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” In the Living Bible it says, “I don’t want your sacrifices, I want you to know me, I don’t want your offerings, I want your love.” Again, God is telling us what it is that he really wants. Jesus referred to this passage, by the way, twice in Matthew. He told the Pharisees to go learn what it meant. He was telling them that God isn’t interested in us being religious, just following rules and regulations, he wants a relationship with us.
    When we walk with God, fellowship with him, trust in him, pray to him, have a relationship with him, we are fulfilling our purpose. Spend time with God and you will find a peace you never knew existed.