Now, of course, a devotional plan on the study of God as a means to an end would not be an adequate way to spend this time together. The majesty of God isn’t only something to be studied and pondered on in order to make ourselves feel smarter, or so that we might know more. Our study of him is, of course, an opportunity to KNOW him more. “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8 NIV)

Picture the scene. You’ve been given a beautiful paradise in which to dwell, you’re given freedom and authority, and you’re also given one instruction which you must not violate… But you can’t help it, so you do.

God comes looking for you – He searches until he finds you and then asks you why you’re hiding.

Imagine the closeness, the connection, and the fellowship alongside the fear that it might soon be over…

Now, we know the story. If we know Jesus, we know that him taking on our sin (past, present, and future) means that although our sin has consequences, God’s not punishing us for it. But that isn’t the key point I raise by sharing this passage today.

I share it because it’s a reminder of the presence of the Lord, which we too can encounter daily. Adam and Eve were human just as we are, and yet they experienced something of God’s presence. They couldn’t stand to be in it because of their own sin, but they had the opportunity to closely encounter God, all the same.

We can so often limit the study of God to simply an opportunity to know more about him as opposed to actually knowing him.

“Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1, NIV)

And so, with our fallen human nature, how do we actually obtain this place of ‘savouring’ as opposed to simply studying? The answer is in the attitude of our hearts toward Him.

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. (Psalm 22:3 ESV)

I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. (Psalm 119:7 ESV)

God inhabits the praises of his people, and we’re also encouraged to worship him with an upright heart.

In short, the more we study, the more we savour. The more we TRULY know, the more we want to know Him.