“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze…”
Genesis 3:8
It could be argued that Christmas is the most nostalgic time of the year. The Welsh have a word that describes longing for home – ‘hiraeth.’ Scottish Gaelic has a similar word – ‘cianalas.’ Both words carry the meaning of a depth of longing for home, even with nostalgia. Perhaps it’s at Christmas time that we feel these emotions more keenly. We think about being surrounded by all the good Christmassy bits ‘n bobs, and we look forward to, or remember, time spent with loved ones.
As we step into the first of December, some of us will be full of these feelings, but some of us might already be fed up with it all.
We see from today’s verse that it was a normal thing for Adam and Eve to be walking with the Lord God in the garden of Eden. They were given the perfect home. They were given jobs to do and commands to obey. There was no sin, no shame, no sadness, and no death.
Further into Genesis, we read of Enoch, who ‘walked with God, then he was not there because God took him.’ (Genesis 5:22) He lived 365 years, had some children, walked with God, then God took him. That’s some biography!
This ‘walking’ meant much more than marching together or travelling on the same road. The idea is more about keeping company with someone and sharing a depth of relationship as they travel together. It’s a theme that is found a few other times in the Old Testament, most notably when used to describe the Lord’s presence with Israel through the Tabernacle.
‘I was made to walk with him’
Christ is Mine Forevermore, CityAlight
God’s people have been made to walk with God.
We have been designed for close relationship with the Lord God, our Maker.
Our deepest longing is to walk with our Lord God, our Maker.
Every nostalgic longing we have is a shadow of that deepest longing.
“Because you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee.”
Augustine, Confessions
Genesis 3:8 ends with a word of caution:
“…they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
Adam & Eve were made to walk with the Lord, but sin caused shame, and they stepped away from him to the point of hiding.
Sin has broken that primary relationship, but at Christmas we remember that Jesus came to us, to bring us back into relationship with him, Emmanuel, our God with us.
Each day this advent we’ll be thinking about a different occasion when God was present with his people, with that hope that we might rejoice all the more, as we too walk with Emmanuel.
Rejoice!
Written by Pete Bell
A thought to remember: We have been made for relationship with Emmanuel.
A bit more to read: Genesis 2-3, 5:21-24, Psalm 139
A question to ask: How can you see the deep longing for home in your life?
A song to sing: Christ is Mine Forevermore