A New Heart

by David Huff

Ilove springtime; birds start chirping and frolicking in the yard, grass turns green, and trees start blooming again. New life begins to spring up everywhere. For many plants, animals, and humans, it is a fresh beginning and an opportunity for something new. Spring often makes me think of the creation story. God is creating everything from nothing. There is a part of the creation story that I am afraid many of us have forgotten.

3, He calls out, “Where are you?” Firstly, this lets us know that Adam and Eve were used to communing with God in the garden because they hid when they head His footsteps. Secondly, this tells us that even though God knew what had happened, He still went looking for His creation. That is the beauty of the creation story that is still present today.

God looked at everything that He had just created: water, land, trees, animals, man and woman, and He pronounced, “It is good.” God was well pleased with what He had created. Every time I see new life forming in the springtime, I wonder what Eden was like when God finished creating the Earth. We know He said, “It is good,” but how peaceful was it for Adam and Eve communing with the living God?

In the Genesis account, we are given a sample of what Eden felt like. After the fall of Adam and Eve, God walked through the garden to look for them. In Genesis

God, in all His glory, knows each of us sins and falls short of His glory. Yet He still seeks us, He still searches for us, and He still wants to heal us. Are we like Adam and Eve and try to hide from God’s presence because of our sin? He already knows them. Do you remember the story of Jonah, who tried to run away from God and found himself in the stomach of a great fish? King David was not a perfect king by any means. He had a sin problem, and yet David is known as a man after God’s own heart. Why? King David cried out to God, “Search me and create a new heart in me.” He also asked God to seek him.

It is never too late to start over, and it is never too late to ask forgiveness as long as you are still alive. The very God that created each one of us is waiting on us, seeking us, and is calling us to Himself. May we stop hiding from the God who loves us so much, open our hearts, and allow God to create a new heart in each one of us.