Old Testament Genesis 3:1-4:26
New Testament Matthew 2:13-3:6
Psalm 2:1-12
Proverb 1:7-9
Our children love to play Hide & Seek as most of us did when we were younger. Children are good at this non-electronic game, because they can squeeze into some of the smallest and obscure spaces. In the past a favorite place our children was in the washing machine or the dryer. Those are no longer options. Have you ever thought about playing Hide & Seek with the God of the universe?
In Genesis 3 and 4 we read about when Adam and Eve disobeyed the one prohibiting command of God “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” (2:17). After their decision to heed the lies from the serpent and satisfy the desire of their eyes they immediately knew something was different in their relationship with the LORD God who made them. The scriptures tell us this is when the game began. The man and his wife hid themselves in the trees of the garden. The LORD God ends the game, as does the parent when there are more important matters to address.
Before we think that God simply does not like to play the game we read today’s reading in Matthew. After Jesus was born God instructed Joseph to take baby Jesus to Egypt to hide from King Herod the Great “for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him” (2:13). Herod did not have patience to play this game of Hide & Seek so he order all male children two years and younger to be killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. Herod dies and God wins!
Are you playing Hide & Seek with God today? Are there things in your life you don’t let others see and don’t want God to see? Actions? Words? Thoughts? The Lord is calling you out of the darkness into the light.
John 12:46
I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
Remember God always wins at Hide & Seek!
Further Resources
On December 20th, 2015 I preached a message called “The Greatest Gift” emphasizing our greatest gift is the very presence of God.