GPS Journal - June 8, 2011

We were created for the kind of fellowship that God eternally enjoys.  It was how we began.  One flesh.

GUIDANCE

"The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame" (Genesis 2:25 NIV).  Naked and not ashamed.  But not just physically.  In every way.

PERSPECTIVE

Physical nakedness we do easily.  People all over our populated planet do this regularly.  In fact, God's command to "Be fruitful and increase in number" (Genesis 1:28 NIV) is about the only command mankind has seriously attempted to obey!

But other types of nakedness are not so easy.  Couples who quite happily take off their clothes are often quite reluctant to take off other types of coverings.  These have often been their heritage and protection from life.  They take them off for nobody, even a spouse. 

STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY

Spiritual nakedness can be difficult.  Dare we confess, even to a spouse, our ugly, sinful, humiliating fantasies? Dare we openly reveal the foundational feelings that have covered our shame since early childhood?  What if our hidden sins are unmasked?

However, such a relationship is exactly where God intended us to live.  Not hidden from one another behind fig-leaf fashions or crude coverings.

Of course, in our snake-infested world, such is not always possible.  That is why God calls us out of hiding into Himself - for deep intimacy often impossible here.

If we allow, Jesus will clothe us in white garments and take us by the hand to our Father in Whose glorious gaze our shame is seen no more.

 - Tony