"Into The Garden"

 "When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into which he entered, and his disciples." (John 18:1 KJV)

  "When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"" (Genesis 3:8-9 NLT)

 Okay, so to start with, my thoughts were that Jesus had been in the garden all along; when He was asking the disciples to pray and watch, when He was pleading with the Father, "If there be another way," and while He was praying, all throughout that last chapter. Don't ask me why, but it was just the place where I had pictured Him, all the time that I remembered reading the verses. 

 That said, it is amazing to me that Jesus' place where He hung out was this garden. I can only imagine it being something that was a representation of the beginning, to which He was going to right a wrong, being determined to do that which Adam failed to do, to be the Man! 

 As you might have known, God did not call out to both, Adam and Eve, but only called out to the man, "Where are you?" This was not because God did not know where Adam was; but because Adam did not know where he was, nor did he understand why he felt the way that he felt, afraid of God! 

 These are some very strange times we are living in, as the family unit is being torn away, piece by piece; the roles of the fathers and mothers are becoming distorted and minimized; the commitment to what it means to be husband and wife are being minimized. You can maybe blame that on technology: too much TV, addiction to cell phones, easy access to pornography, and way too much information! 

 For the last few days, I have been hearing several different pastors teaching on Ecclesiastes, as it must be that Book that each of them is teaching through now. That is one of my favorite things about most Calvary Chapel churches, they teach the word, in season and out of season, wherever that Book is that they are in, that is what they are teaching, in one way or another. 

 Some think that Solomon had lost his mind; some think that he had too much of the world in him; some think that he was in a fallen state because he had too many pagan wives; whatever you might think of him, he was a vessel that was used by God! Messed up, mixed up, or loving too much of life, he was God's vessel, doing that which God had already known he would do! 

 The two variations of teachings that I heard, were as totally different as they could possibly be. One had Solomon hardly refereeing at all to God, while the other had him circling back and forth from the world and to God. I am sticking to the thought of the second version, as he was comparing living under the sun, to living under the Son! 

 Anywho, God knows what each of us will do before we are ever even thinking about doing it! We get surprised by the things we do, feeling ashamed, and being fearful of God! Where are you...

 "So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God." (Hebrews 6:1 NLT)