PARADISE FOUND! -- Devotional for February 19, from "Good Seeds"

I will make My dwelling among you…I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people…I brought you out of the land of Egypt…I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. (Leviticus 26:11-13)

Some scientists like to describe the long ascent of man from the wild ape to the god-like genius he now considers himself to be. Funny they should give evolution the credit for making man stand erect, when the Bible clearly says it was God who accomplished that task – and He made us that way from the beginning. Adam was God’s best friend, from the moment he was created, but when they two walked together in the Garden of Eden it was not like a man and his dog. Turn it around: it was a man and His God! We know from the account of man’s earliest history (Genesis 1-3) that it was the Creator’s greatest joy to stroll with our first parents in that first paradise. That joy was dashed the moment humans began ignoring their Maker. Since that time “all we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned – everyone of us – to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Yes, humanity began to stoop to an animal-like state, unaware of the glory, the love – the existence even – of his Creator. And the result of rejecting God’s goodness to His creation has been man’s inhumanity to man! Though we have all but forgotten our original glory of walking hand in hand and fellowshipping face to face with the Lover of our soul, God has never forgotten His earliest desire for intimacy with the crowning jewel of His creation. Maybe that’s why the Bible keeps talking about God’s desire and intention to restore that original paradise. The word paradise means, “a walled garden.” The bricks of that wall are righteousness and holiness. No wonder another name for heaven is paradise, for that is a place wherein only righteousness dwells, where man will once again freely fellowship with his God. But even now, God promises to those who trust in Him to make His dwelling place – to set up His tabernacle – in our very midst. The words of a song depict that beautiful scene: “Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true; and with thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for You.” But this only can be true for those who, by God’s grace, have come out of their own particular land of Egypt, their private place of sin-bondage. The choice is easy – or should be: turn away from Egypt, and turn towards Paradise. The thief on the cross made that journey of faith, and Jesus told him the same thing God told the Israelites, and tells us today: “This day you shall be with me, in Paradise.”