Genesis 3:9b
Oh my soul. This text above records for us the very first words spoken to fallen man by the mouth of God. It is, therefore, a suitable text upon which to meditate on the first day of this New Year. Where are you? Have you given this any thought as of late? Where are you in the timeline of your life? Where are you in the maturity of your thoughts? Where are you in the development and improvement of those relationships the Lord has set you in? But most importantly, and the question upon which I wish to focus my heart, where are you in your walk and relationship with Jesus Christ?
Where are you? It is interesting that the Lord, of course, knew full well where Adam and Eve were. The question therefore could not be one of mere location. The question, I believe, was designed to force our forefather to reflect upon the tragedy of his sinful rebellion against God. They were hiding. They had formerly walked with God in pleasant fellowship and delight. Now they were running from Him and hiding in the shameful awareness of their own transgression. So, my soul, where are you? Are you too hiding behind the foolish foliage of self-righteousness? Are you hiding from spiritual exercises to escape the painful presence of a guilty conscience? Are you avoiding Christ in order to ignore addressing your own iniquity? Where are you? The church bell rings, the Word of God sits collecting dust upon your shelf, the prayer closet is left vacant and unattended, spiritual friends avoided…all because you will not deal with these pressing matters upon your heart.
Oh my soul, and oh dear reader, listen to the New Testament answer to this Old Testament question. The triune God said to Adam, “Where are you?” Adam had fallen into sin, and with him the whole race of mankind fell with him. But Jesus Christ came to earth to find and rescue fallen man and calls to him with these words “Come unto Me!” Oh my soul, wherever you are hiding today, come out and run to Christ. Where are you right now? It matters not, so long as you turn your eyes upon Him who gave His life for you. He has come to “seek and to save that which was lost.” Are you, dear reader, lost in sin? Where are you? Are you fleeing the tents of your own wickedness for the solid ground of God’s righteousness provided for you in the person of Jesus Christ? Will you continue to sit and hide when Christ says “Come?” Will you let yet one more year roll by without coming out of the shrubbery of your own shame and forests of your own failure? Where are you?
And you, Christian, where are you in your walk with God and your relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you seeking to grow in grace by employing those means appointed by God for those ends? Will you seek with greater diligence to subdue and destroy those sins that still cling to your life? Will you humbly reach out this year to serve your neighbor’s needs? Will you, as William Carey once put it, “expect great things from God, attempt great things for God?” Are you headed for heaven? Then let us prepare for heaven now. Richard Baxter said “This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it.” Where are you right now? Dear reader, may we walk together this year as we head toward the Celestial City and our Eternal Home? I would be glad of the company, and certainly we would be mutually helped as we “stir up one another to love and good works.” Oh my soul…where are you?
