Mark 8:35-37
35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Devotion - The Fig Leaf Is a Sham

So, we all have a question, and what do we do with it? We try to cover it up. Avoid it. Like Adam, we were made in God’s image. Then, like Adam, we went looking outside of God for answers. And, like Adam, we’ve sinned against God—gravely. Finally, like Adam, we’ve come up with a way to cover up our question with what Eldredge calls the fig leaf. The fake. The poser. Call it whatever you want, but we try to hide from the answer to our question.

Maybe you’ve faked the funny man, nice guy, strong man, money guy, family man, leader guy, or better yet, the ladies’ man. Then one day you realized the poser wasn’t enough. The next guy was smarter, stronger, whatever-er. Like me, you have three choices. One: Avoid situations where the next person could out-do you. You know, “If I can’t win, I won’t play.” Two: Double-down, try harder, and go bigger with your fig leaf. Or three: Give up the fig leaf, stop hiding, and take the risky step to pursue and rely on God’s answer to your question. The first assumes there is no answer. The second assumes you’re the answer. The third assumes God has the answer.

How do we come out of hiding and get rid of the fig-leaf poser for good? Admit you have a question, define it, stop taking your question to the wrong places, and begin relying on Father God for the answers. In other words, be a son.

Watch today’s video. Write out how you fake it and bring your question to God in prayer.

Genesis 3:1-101Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" 4"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. 5"For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."