Author: Beth Duncan

Gen 5:1 This is the written account of Adam’s family line.
I’m pretty sure Gen 5 is where my resolve to read through the Bible usually breaks down. I’m not a genealogy buff. All the begetting gets terribly confusing pretty quickly. At first glance, my most solid takeaway is that this chapter is where the expression “Old as Methuselah” comes from. He lived a total of 969 years, according to Gen 5.
Gen 5:5 …and then he died.
“…and then he died” is repeated eight times in this chapter, so often that it is easy to overlook the significance, but Gen 5:24 stands out sharply in contrast because of the that repetition. Enoch, who walked faithfully with God, did not die. “God took him away.” What a lovely thought, walking faithfully with God. It puts me in mind of the Ram Dass quote I like so much: “We are all just walking each other home.” God’s walking with us, too. Are we being faithful in our walk?
Gen 5:24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more because God took him away.
Lord, Thank You for this day, this scripture, this new look at verses I’ve read since youth. Thank You for faithfully walking us home, Lord, for loving us so much that You anticipate our time together. Help me to value and prioritize my time with You. Always. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 5:27 Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.
Have a blessed day. 

Gen 4:3-4 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock….
I have never really taken time to slow down and look at the specifics of this verse. The English teacher in me is a bit chagrined that it took reading commentaries on this verse to pick up the subtle nuances. God did not favor Abel because He liked Abel better. He favored Abel because Abel’s sacrifice was a pure desire from the heart to please God by offering his best—fat portions from the firstborn. Cain’s offering came from his excess—some of the fruits of the soil, not the best. Cain was just going through the motions.
Gen 4:7 “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Commentaries suggest the perhaps other brothers were aligning themselves to Abel instead of Cain, the firstborn, and that that is what “being accepted” refers to. Regardless, I think “doing what is right” refers to getting his heart right, putting God first, offering Him first fruits. God is saying, “Put Me first and everything else will fall into place. You will no longer have to fight to feel accepted. But you must do what is right. Put Me first in your life and your heart.”
Gen 4:8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for the ability to read Your word through new eyes, seeing new insights. Thank You for not condemning Cain instantly because he was pandering to You with his sacrifice. Your response was not damnation but rather conversation. “If you do what is right…” You gave him a choice and a chance, just as You do for us today. You love us and want us to turn to You, to love You, to put You first, knowing that if we do, everything will fall into place for us. But You don’t force us. You let us choose You. Help me, Lord, every moment of every day to put You first in my life. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 4:10 The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”
Have a blessed day.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
As I was reading commentary on Gen 4 this morning, I was caught off guard when I read “It is likely Eve thought Cain was the seed that God promised, the deliverer who would come from Eve (Gen 3:15).” I totally missed the promise of a Savior in that verse. And the name Cain is so synonymous with evil and murder that my head is spinning just a bit.
Gen 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
I have held a newborn in my arms, heart swelling with pride and promise of all the child might become, yet I have never thought of the Cain who cold-bloodedly killed his brother as a newborn full of untapped potential. And it has never occurred to me that Eve might have held said newborn in her arms thinking, mistakenly, that she was holding the Savior of the world. Did that thought, that hope, translate into how she raised him? Did she show Cain, intentionally or otherwise, favor as he grew? Did she somehow pass on to him an air of entitlement that later translated into pride, arrogance, and anger when God accepted Able’s sacrifice and not Cain’s? 
Gen 4:4-5 …The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for this new layer of understanding, these new questions and thoughts. I’m not sure what to do with these pieces, Lord. They don’t fit into my religious paradigm, but I know You have placed them before me for a purpose. Help me to sit with this information, to ponder the implications, to lift all of it up to You in prayer and praise. I want to know You better, Lord. I want to praise You fully. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 4:5b …So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Have a blessed day.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent…said to the woman, “Did God really say…?”
One verse earlier, Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed in the Garden. And just like that, the serpent introduced temptation. But the serpent is wily, just like temptation. He doesn’t try to convince Eve that she should eat the fruit. He just introduces doubt. “Did God REALLY say….” That doubt took hold and led to disastrous consequences. All the snake did was ask a very pointed question and step back to watch.
Gen 3:11-13 …”Who told you that you were naked?…” …”The woman You put here with me—she gave me some fruit….” … “The serpent deceived me….”
We all make bad choices in life, some more frequently than others. One thing that I know at this point in my life is that when I make bad choices, I need to take responsibility for those decisions instead of deflecting blame. No one in the Garden wanted to do that. Adam deferred blame to Eve. Eve pushed the blame onto the serpent. I’m sure the serpent would innocently claim all he did was ask a question. And yet, together, they brought about consequences for all mankind.
Gen 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Lord, Thank You for this day, this scripture, this reminder. Thank You that even when we are disobedient, Your loving care is still present. It boggles my mind that after You are directly disobeyed, after no one will take responsibility for their poor choices, after You have to clean up the mess that You had safeguards to avoid, after all of that, You still love and care for Your children so much that You make them garments to cover their nakedness. Thank You for Your fierce love and tender care, Lord. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Draw us closer. Amen.
Gen 3:19 …for dust you are and to dust you shall return.”
Have a blessed day.

Gen 2:2 …so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.
The beginning of Gen 2 caught my attention because the Creator of the universe took time to rest. It made me wonder how long it has been since I truly rested? Set all my cares to the side, put schoolwork and housework and any other work aside and just breathed? Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever done that. There is always something that needs doing, something that feels so pressing that it just can’t wait. Jesus, Help me.
Gen 2:25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The end of Gen 2 caught my attention because of the lack of shame. Shame feels almost like a second skin in this life. I’m ashamed of my pudge and my stretch marks. I’m ashamed that I can’t accomplish everything I set out to in a day. I’m ashamed that no matter how good I try to be in my Christian walk, I fail daily, multiple times a day. Jesus, Help me.
Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for this scripture. Thank You for the reminder that we are to rest in You, truly rest, to be still and grateful in Your presence. Thank You for calling us to feel no shame in You, even though we are so ridiculously human and fallible. I want more than anything to live a life that is pleasing to You, to shine Your light for all to see. I want others to see Your glory, grace, and mercy, and not my humanity. Show me how, Lord. Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Have a blessed day.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created….
I love the image of God as creative artist. In my mind, I see Him with a colorful artist’s smock and maybe a beret tipped rakishly to one side. Paintbrush in hand, loaded with color, He approaches His canvas with confidence. He is the Master. He is creating a masterpiece. In my mind’s eye, I see Him creating joyfully, with reckless abandon. He is having fun. There is joy in His brushstrokes. He is pleased with His work.
Gen 1:10 …And God saw that it was good.
I think about my own artistic attitude, so very different. I am hesitant, often reluctant. I don’t want to mess up the canvas. Instead of reckless abandon, I paint with trepidation and anxiety, and I’m creating a literal canvas, not the sweeping brushstrokes of the world. Regardless, I think He would want me to bring more joy to my work, more reckless abandon in the form of prayer and praise to Him. This isn’t a grim task set before me. It is a joyful opportunity.  
Gen 1:27 So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them….
Lord, Thank You for this day, this scripture, this reminder. Thank You for Your joyful exuberance in creating and for wanting us to experience that same sense of joy and wonder. Help us to put aside all that hinders us and to completely and joyfully give ourselves to the tasks You set before us. Draw us closer. Amen.
Gen 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good….
Have a blessed day.