When Elen was born she just seemed so perfect. As she started growing up, however, we soon realised that our precious little girl was not the perfect little angel she had first appeared to be.
Far from it…
As with most kids, Elen developed a real fondness for soft toys. One of her favourite hang-outs was Mamgu and Pops’ house (that’s what we call my mam and dad!) because they had a sofa in their living room with a huge assortment of soft animals strewn across the back of it. As soon as Elen was able to climb she couldn’t wait to scale the heights in order to get her hands on the various cuddly creatures that lived up there - frogs, bears, elephants, monkeys, tigers, koalas…
One day, a new animal appeared at the far end of the sofa. It was a small, grey rat that my sister had bought Pops for Christmas, and was quite special to him. Pops’ rat was therefore ‘off limits’ for Elen, who was told that she was welcome to play with all the other animals, but that she wasn’t to touch his precious rat!
What unfolded as a consequence of this new rule was as disturbing as it was hilarious!
All of a sudden Elen didn’t give a stuff about all of her other animal friends. She was focussing all of her energy, passion and criminal skill into swiping Pops’ rat from under his very nose! She tried everything from smash and grab to distraction tactics, usually failing miserably, though occasionally getting her hands on the coveted rat before being headed-off at the pass!
As comical as it was, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the bit in the Bible that explains how the world got to be so messed-up! Genesis (the first book of the Bible) tells the story of how God made the world and that the pinnacle of His creation was human beings, who He made to be in relationship with Himself. He gave our first parents, Adam and Eve, the freedom to enjoy the whole world, with just one simple command:
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2v16-17)
In the same way that Elen broke our rules and pursued the forbidden rat, Adam and Eve rejected God’s loving law, took the forbidden fruit, thus kick-starting a tragic chain-reaction that continues to destroy our world today.
• Rebellion against God is called sin, and we are all born in its cruel grip. (Romans 3 v 23)
• All of the suffering, hatred, disease, anxiety and death in our world today are the consequence of sin in our lives.
• Ultimately sin is a barrier that separates us from God (who is perfect), both in this life and after we die, in hell. (2 Thessalonians 1 v 9)
If nothing else, Elen’s rebellious escapades only served to remind me that we are all sinners who need to be liberated from the Curse of Pops’ Rat!
What we need is a Saviour.
Dai Hankey is a church-planting pastor in South Wales and the author of the The Hard Corps soon to be published by The Good Book Company.
Dai Hankey is a church-planting pastor in Cardiff, where he lives with his wife, Michelle, and four young children. He is founder of Red Community, a Christian charity that fights human trafficking in Wales. Dai is a former skateboarder and loves to DJ. He is the author of The Hard Corps, A Man's Greatest Challenge and the Eric Says… series.
