“Where are you?” That’s the first recorded question from God to man. God did not need a GPS to locate Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:9. He knows the numbers of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30). He knows the very secrets of our hearts and where we are even in the darkest night. There is nowhere we can go to flee his Spirit or presence (Psalm 139). So what was God asking by calling out, “Where are you?”
The question then and today is introspective. Adam & Eve were clearly seeking to avoid an encounter with their creator because they had committed the first act of disobedience. They were seeking to hide themselves in shame because of their disappointment and failure. We have many methods of ‘hiding’ today. We seek to hide in work, other relationships, drugs (prescription drugs count also), ego gratification, such as food, sex, power grabs, etc. even religious activity or any number of other ways to hide our own shame or admission of failure.
Since Eden we all have failed. The word most translated sin in the scriptures comes from a Greek word that simply means ‘to miss the mark’. We were created in the image of God for divine and unique fellowship with the Supreme Being of the universe. Anytime we fall short of his glory (which is daily) we fail.
God wanted Adam & Eve to examine themselves (and us as well) to see where they were in their relationship with Him. He was seeking to restore them and provide means for restoration. He is always seeking to do the same with us. This is only done through faith in Christ. They, like us, were and are the only entity in all creation with the ability to make ‘God-like’ choices with and in our lives. With this opportunity comes responsibility. To make responsible, better or God-like choices we must continually examine our motives, heart, mind and soul asking, “Where am I?”
Examining our own heart, beliefs and motives on a continual basis leads to a walk closer to God rather than one that wanders away. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates said that at his trial for heresy. He was on trial for encouraging his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time and think for themselves. I Thessalonians tells us to “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” Now, that doesn’t mean that I need to try cheating, crime, drugs, adultery, drunkenness, etc. I don’t need to re-test that which is already proven defective and destructive. Nonetheless, I do need to be open to continually ask myself “Where are you?” in my own thoughts, motives and actions; am I being honest with others, myself and God?
However, we are not often the best to search and evaluate where we are. We have proven ourselves to be biased and blind to some of our best hiding places. We can justify, rationalize and cover- with the best of them. Who then is the best to seek, find and bring us out of ‘hiding’ to enjoy the place for which we were created which is unsheltered, blissful, divine and unique fellowship with the Supreme Being of the universe?
Psalm 139 closes with the wonderful answer to the self-examining question. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Begin each day and pause several times during the day to ask the Father, “Where am I?” He will let you know if you have wandered. He will bring you back. He misses you and desperately wants you back. This is why he continually walks the garden asking, “Where are you?”
