🌳 A Garden, a Choice, and a Promise

God planted a garden called Eden and placed the first people there. Rivers watered the trees. Fruit hung within reach. In the cool of the day, God walked with them, the way a father walks with children he loves. There was one tree they were not to eat from, because trusting God meant letting him be God.

A sneaky serpent twisted God’s words. The fruit looked good, and the people wanted to decide good and bad for themselves. They ate. Then the garden did not feel like home. They hid. Shame is a heavy blanket, and they tried to wear it.

God came looking. He did not pretend the choice was fine, and he did not walk away forever. He told them the truth about what their choice had broken. Then he made a promise: one day a child would come who would crush the serpent’s power. God covered them and sent them out of the garden, still loved, still known.

Kids make wrong choices too. Hiding makes the wrong heavier. God still comes looking, and the promise he made in the garden points all the way to Jesus. You can tell the truth tonight and go to sleep uncovered by shame, because God would rather forgive you than lose you.