Genesis 2:18-25 - Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

I find it funny that God puts off creating Eve until after Adam names the animals. It looks to me like God knew all along Adam needed another human being to be with—but Adam didn't know that! And so God gave him a task that would force him to realize what he was missing. Fur and feathers and scales, four legs and no legs and six legs, wings and flippers and claws—all wonderful, all beautiful, none of them enough. None like him, none the same, none of them home.

Only then does God put him to sleep and create Eve.

And Adam appreciates her! Now he knows what he was missing. She is "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh," he says. And he is glad.

People need people. We need family, friends, neighbors, people who pass us in the street. Even those of us who are extreme introverts can't do without others entirely. The pandemic with its lockdowns and social distancing has forced us to understand that—to feel it in our flesh and bones.

So God made humanity, not a single specimen, but a family—and eventually, billions of people, interconnected in so many different ways. And then, God became part of humanity—was born a human baby, flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones—to make us His own relatives, His kinsmen and kinswomen. As our relative, He would suffer, die, and rise for us, because He loved us. And through the Holy Spirit's work in our hearts, He would join us to Him forever—never lost, never alone again.

THE PRAYER: Lord, thank You for becoming a part of our family, and making us part of Yours. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you like to be around people a lot, or just a little? Why?

2. The pandemic cut down our contact with human beings greatly. What specifically has been hardest for you?

3. Would it matter to you if God had chosen not to become a man, and instead saved humanity some other way? Why and how?

Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 43-44    Romans 8:1-21

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