In May, 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes had the first telephone installed in the telegraph room of the White House.  Although he was fascinated by the new technology, he rarely received any phone calls.  The Treasury Department possessed the only direct phone line to the White House at the time.  The phone number was “1”, and it was not until a year later that the first telephone exchange was set up, and it was fifty more years before President Herbert Hoover had the first telephone line installed at his desk in the Oval Office.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible tell us from the very beginning of time, God communicated with the first man and woman that He had created and put in the Garden of Eden.  In Genesis 3, we read about Adam and Eve disobeying the one single rule that God had given them as they lived in the perfect paradise that God had made for them.  After they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and sewed fig trees to cover themselves, they heard the voice of the Lord as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and hid themselves among the trees of the garden.  He normally had no trouble finding them in the garden, but on this occasion, He called out and asked them their whereabouts.  Of course, God actually knew where they were hiding, but He wanted them to tell Him where they were hiding and why. 

        Ever since that time in the Garden of Eden, God has communicated with His creation, and He has done it in a number of different ways.  A very common way for God to communicate with people was to speak to them in an audible voice, like He did with Abraham when he told him to leave his homeland and go to a land to which He would direct him.  God also spoke to him and made a promise to him that one day he would become the “father of many nations”.  God kept that promise, just like He always keeps all His promises, sooner or later.  God also spoke to a man named Moses in a very unusual way when He spoke to him in an audible out of a burning bush. The bush was on fire but it was not consumed by the fire, and it definitely got the attention of Moses.

        But Gid also wants us initiate communication with Him through the avenue of prayer.  He wants us to give Him our praise and worship, and He greatly desires for us to communicate our cares, concerns, and burdens to Him, and ask Him for His help. 

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.