I was watching one of the television programs on the Discovery Channel titled “Naked and Afraid.”Don’t ask me why I would spend an hour on such a bizarre program. I just did. 

The plot is repeated weekly during the series; a man and a woman who do not know one another are dropped off, unclothed  in a predatory environment and they must work together to survive for 21 days. The couple I saw was dropped into the Louisiana bayou amidst the alligators, poisonous snakes, and murky waters. A cold front had dropped the temperature the night before their arrival and hypothermia was another obstacle they faced.  

He was from Georgia and she was from Australia. Their first meeting was in the bayou with a completely naked handshake. Their 21-day journey was terrifying and full of despair and fear. I was thankful to be in my home with the doors locked, in my pajamas, safe with plenty of popcorn and cherry coke! This television series will not be on my favorites list, even though it is now 10 seasons running. Watching people suffer and barely escape death is not entertainment for me!

The first couple to experience “naked and afraid” was Adam and Eve after their disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden. Their awareness of sin made them also aware of their frailty, shame and nakedness. They immediately went into survival mode, creating clothing from nearby plant leaves. 

When God came down in the cool of the evening to fellowship with them as he had done every day since their creation, they hid in fear. When he asked them why they hid, they replied “we were naked and afraid.” Mankind has been responding to God’s invitation to fellowship in the same way for thousands of years. We live our lives fully aware of our shame and nakedness and in fear of God.

In the story of Adam and Eve, found in Genesis chapters 2-3, God slays an animal and makes clothing for them from the animal skin. The blood of an innocent is shed so Adam and Eve can be covered.  When God questioned the source of their revelation, they confessed to eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was forbidden by God when he placed them in the garden. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Both were guilty as together they had chosen to eat the proverbial apple. God had wanted to protect them, provide for them, and fellowship with them as his family but they chose independence and self-knowledge. 

Fear, rebellion and blamed had entered the perfect garden and the perfect relationship between God and man. The result was separation, fear and alienation from a loving God who only wanted to bring joy, blessings and love to his creations. It was a sad day that took years of planning to redeem. But through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, mankind was returned to a relationship with God. It is a relationship without fear and shame — a relationship of love and acceptance by a merciful God. Jesus was the lamb that was slain so our nakedness could be covered with a robe of righteousness and right standing with God the Father. 

I think sometimes we forget that we have been redeemed. We choose to live apart from God, “naked and afraid” in a hostile world of predators, poisonous snakes and murky waters. Trust in God and understanding that we have been adopted into his kingdom of peace and love is a quiet thought in a loud and dangerous world. We must focus on our redemption and live free from fear and shame. God’s plan is expressed simply in John 3: 16 AMP “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He even gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.” 

Ephesians 2:4-5 NKJV comforts us, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). 

Give your heart to Christ. Live free, safe, unashamed in the kingdom of God’s redemption. Don’t live “naked and afraid”!