Daily Devotional for July 23, 2020
Hide and Seek
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” yelled Dad. Maddie giggled happily as her dad missed her hiding spot in the bushes. He looked high in the trees and under the deck, and he even started looking in the house for her. “Have you seen Maddie?” he asked Mom. Mom said no. He went back outside and called out to her. “Maddie!” She started giggling again, and this time Dad found her.
“Oh no! I was hoping you would never find me. It was so hard not to laugh,” Maddie said as he scooped her into his arms.
“Did you know that the first people, Adam and Eve, hid from God in the Garden of Eden—kind of like how you hid from me?” asked Dad.
“Really? Why did they hide from Him?” Maddie asked.
“They hid because they had disobeyed Him and felt ashamed,” Dad replied. “God told them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yet they both ate from it because they were tempted by Satan.”
They went into the house, and Dad took out his Bible and read from the book of Genesis. Maddie listened intently to the story.
“When Adam and Eve were hiding, the Lord even called out, ‘Where are you?’” Maddie said when Dad had finished reading. “Just like you asked me where I was, Dad.”
Dad nodded. “We sometimes try to hide from God too. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they brought sin into the world. Because of that, we’re all sinners, and we all feel ashamed about the wrong things we do. But it’s impossible to hide from God—He knows about our sin, and He still wants us to be His children. That’s why He sent His Son to come find us.”
“You mean, when Jesus came to earth and died for us?” asked Maddie.
“Right. Because we trust in Jesus, who took the punishment for our sin on the cross, we don’t have to feel ashamed. We can stop hiding and enjoy a relationship with Him.” Dad smiled. “Okay, kiddo. How about one more round of hide-and-seek with your old dad? You can try to find me this time.”
Maddie nodded, then closed her eyes and began to count. • ALEXIS WOHLER
How about you?
Have you tried to hide from God? It’s impossible to hide from Him. He already knows what you’ve done, and He doesn’t want you to hide and feel ashamed. Jesus took the punishment for your sin because He wants you to be forgiven and have a relationship with Him! Stop hiding and trust in Him. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column of this page.)
Today's Verse
Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean. (NLT) Hebrews 10:22 NKJV
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