Anchor Devotional

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In the Garden

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

We read in Genesis 2-3 how God walked and talked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Much later in Luke 22:44, the setting is another garden: the Garden of Gethsemane. There Jesus prayed in agony, His sweat trickling down in drops of blood. God chose gardens as the backdrops for one of the most beautiful scenes in the Bible and for one of the most painful scenes. Perhaps it is because of these that some say one is closer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth.

I know that whenever I’m on my hands and knees pulling weeds, I see how much easier it is to pull a tiny weed than one that’s been allowed to flourish and sink its roots deep into the earth. The Lord reminds me that it is better to confess a sin and receive forgiveness than it is to let that sin flourish and take root.

The beautiful Garden of Eden lost its wonder when sin entered the world. But the pain-wrought Garden of Gethsemane brought beauty to us through Jesus. Our heavenly Father loved us too much to leave us rooted in our sin and bitterness. He came to win us back!

SCRIPTURE FOCUS
1 John 1:5-10

INSIGHT
Trying to remedy the mess of sin I’ve created is futile. Frequent confession, like frequent weeding, is the best policy.

THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Joshua 5-6
Psalm 99
Acts 23

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