Genesis 3:9 English Standard Version (ESV) But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

When I wake up and I do not find my wife in bed sleeping beside me, I get up and go looking for her. I do so because I love her and want to be with her.

God loves us and comes looking for us in that same manner. He loves us and seeks to have the personal love connection each and every morning. You in Genesis 3:9 and 3:11 is the singular form of the Hebrew word. It is personal, it is not the collective you. God wants to spend personal time with you.

That hasn’t changed.

“Where are you?”

Were your first thoughts in the morning about God and spending time with Him in a close personal relationship? If we are to have a close personal relationship with our God, then as in all relationships we must set aside time to get personal.

Over the past week or so I have shared with you my memories of coming back to God by reading my bible. I did not know how to study the bible. I didn’t have it “all figured out”. As adults there will always be this sense of need to understand, to reason, to rationalize, to get involved.

When we are born again, we are a new creature, a babe in Christ. Do babies understand everything going on around them? They tend to love instinctively because they are loved. The bond between the mother and child is necessary for good emotional growth. The bond makes the difference, not the baby’s understanding.

Red the Word towards that same end. Love being loved. See the reading of your bible as a means of getting to participate in this relationship. It should not be work. It is not education, it is relationship.

Decades late none of that has changed. I have changed but the love that I have draws me back to maintaining the relationship in the same way. Reading His Word is an exercise in relationship, a way to love God in a personal way.

Romans 3:23 English Standard Version (ESV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The last thing any of us want is to have our past thrown in our faces daily. Our past mistakes are lessons learned. We may instruct others about avoiding the consequences we ourselves have suffered. We do not have to be specific in detail to witness the errors of our ways.

What we did might not even be illegal. Even if illegal, perhaps the statutes of limitations has expired and confession will not result in an arrest. Even if we have not sought the Lord’s forgiveness, even if we have not confession and been saved, we still do not deserved to be hounded by others.

People change and if there is information out there for others to find that is no reason why people should examine the past to find fault where none exists today. The reason I speak to this issue at this present time is because there is a large number of individuals who prey upon the weak and defenseless.

If a person has regret for the past then that is a sign for the offer of salvation. Forgiveness can be found. Since it is our responsibility to spread the gospel then our behavior in doing so must be in meekness in offering a gracious hand. We should never allow our words to be used to keep the lost from seeking God.

Romans 14:13 English Standard Version (ESV)

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

¹³ Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

The same can be said for anyone, not just a brother.

Matthew 18:5-6 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁵ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.