My good friend was telling me a story the other day about when he would go over to his grandmother’s house as a child. You know how this story goes: Grandma’s house is full of very nice things, very breakable things, things that mommy and daddy couldn’t afford to replace if broken. Grandma was rather particular about her things anyway, and even if my friend were to have handled the fragile items with care, she would have been uptight with his meddling in her decorative style (you know how creatively kids can “decorate”…)
So the presiding rule when he went to Grandma’s house was: Don’t touch anything, don’t disturb anything, sit there and behave, and if you’re good we’ll take you out for ice cream when we leave.
Doesn’t that sound a bit like the Gospel that some have digested?
Don’t play with anything, don’t break anything, be good, and if you are, you’ll get a reward when you’re done…
Is that why Jesus came?
To encourage us to behave, to endure this endless list of don’ts in order to be treated to something delightful at some time in the distant future?
Forgive me, but if that’s all this amounts to, I’m not sure I want the ice cream.
What fun is it, anyway, if the only goal is to behave?
I look at Valentine’s Day and am reminded of love, affection, romance. I think about how much I love my wife and how much fun it is to spend time with her. I think about how I enjoy our walks in the evening where we can look out at the sunset and reflect on the day’s events, where we can move deeper in our conversation and share our hopes, dreams, and fears.
We share life together. And we call it good.
I wonder if that was what it was like for Adam and God to walk together in the Garden during the cool of the evening. I wonder what their conversations were like, what the scenery must have looked like, whether Adam confided in God that he wouldn’t mind having a good-looking helpmate to join them…
I can imagine that whatever the topic, the conversation was intimate and personal.
And that was just how God wanted it.
Never, ever, do we read that God told Adam “not to touch” the earth, “not to play” with the animals, to “sit there and behave”.
Never.
Rather, God tells Adam the exact opposite. He tells him to conquer, to name, to enjoy his surroundings.
And he walks with Adam all the while. God and Adam share life together.
If Jesus came to restore, perhaps this was what he was looking for. Perhaps the destination is not Eden faraway, but Eden right here. After all, the best part about Eden was not the scenery, but the company.
Perhaps the purpose of Jesus was that we should have the opportunity to walk with him once again, here.
Where in Jesus’ message do we see him telling his disciples to merely be on their best behavior? Where do we see him casting out demons for the sole purpose of performance management?
No—what we see is Jesus constantly offering an invitation of restoration.
To what?
To the place where he can once again walk with his people, where he can share the ups and downs of life together, where he can be teacher and mentor, father and friend.
So today, in reflection of Valentine’s Day, may you once again be reminded of God’s love and his relentless pursuit of your heart. May your focus be not on the do’s and don’ts, but may it be on the romantic walk. May your heart be filled with the knowledge that God craves intimacy with you, that his purpose is to restore the beauty inside you, and that the company is far better than the scenery.
Enjoy the journey…
Nate's Thoughts 