After the Fall

Falling has definitely been on my mind the past couple of days, reinforced of course by my very, very battered, bruised and beat up body. I'm hobbling around like an old person--okay "older" person. I know compared to some of you I'm already old (Just don't tell me so, okay. Remember it's a good thing to humor your elders!) You know the pain is actually worse now than when I first fell. Why is that?

Pondering this question got me to thinking about the first "fall"--that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. I wonder if their spiritual fall parallels my physical fall. What do you think? I mean, after the initial fall when they ate from the tree of knowledge and realized their sin, they must have experienced an initial shock, shame, pain, a host of things must have come flooding in for them. I think, however that the days after the fall were even worse, especially after they heard the voice of God Almighty and realized what they'd done. Can't you just picture that? If the initial jolt wasn't bad enough being "caught" by the Creator of the Universe had to be an absolute LOW point in their day. And of course, getting kicked out of paradise wasn't any picnic, either.

Anyway, I think that's kind of how we react to falling--both physically and spiritually. It's the after effects that are the worst for us. Yes, we experience some initial pain, but the "afterward" is what impacts us the most.

Aren't you glad that God forgives and forgets our falling? We may not, but He does. I recently came across a quote in one of Max Lucado's books that I think sums this up well. He says, "God forgets the past; imitate Him."

I don't know about you, but I'm going to do my best with the help of the Holy Spirit living within me to do exactly that.