HOARDERS

Do you remember the TV show Hoarders? It was about the secret struggles of people who could not part with their belongings. As the shows name suggests, items would be obsessively hoarded in their homes. The ironic thing is that these “private” struggles were filmed on TV for the whole world to see, thus exposing their “secret” hoarding addiction to millions of people who watched the show.

This looks a lot like our lives as believers when we try to hide our sins from God, doesn’t it? The more we try to hide, the more we end up exposed. Why is this?

Look at Genesis 3:8-13-

8 And they (Adam and Eve) heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Note here: With their consciences condemning them, they shrank from the intimacy with God they had formerly enjoyed in the garden). 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Note: Here the question induces Adam to come to Him- it doesn’t mean God didn’t know where he was). 10 And Adam said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate (ESV).”

Ironically, Adam and Eve’s efforts to conceal themselves only exposed them all the more. Adam and Eve ate from the one tree God told them not to, the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As a result, they suffered immediate spiritual death and ultimately, physical death. God set loving boundaries by telling them not to eat from that one tree, but they chose instant gratification instead and gave in to the devil’s temptation. How often this is true in our own lives.

Adam and Eve tried to “cover” their shame, by sewing fig leaves together as noted in Genesis 3:7. The “cover” was a “type and shadow” of Jesus Christ (types and shadows in the OT foreshadow to the Messiah, and are seen all throughout the entire OT).

What trees are you and I hiding behind today? We don’t have to hide anymore. Jesus is our covering. He paid for our sins on the cross so we can live with Him, not live in condemnation. He wants us to come clean to Him because He loves us. Hold to this promise today: 1 John 1:9- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.