Leaving Eden

Remember when you were growing up as a child?  Everything was so perfect, easy, and good.  Days were filled with friends, play, and napping.  I remember spending entire days just playing with my best friend in my backyard.  We imagined being in a jungle with lots of trees to swing from.  Or on rainy days, we would just stay inside and build forts or play with our dolls.  The worst part of the day as a child might have been breaking my favorite crayon or getting in trouble for feeding the dog under the table.  As children, we were protected from the dangers looming in our world.  Childhood was and is a paradise.  It's a dreamworld that most adults often refer back to as "the good ole days."  We sit and recollect our favorite childhood memories, family vacations, picnics at the park, and even Easter egg hunts. 

...But adults have to leave paradise at some point and enter the "real world."  The real world is not like childhood.  We are no longer sheltered from the evils that surround us.  Bad things happen in the real world.  Life gets tougher.  Worries crowd our good memories.  Busy schedules leave us longing for more...

But there is more.  When we leave our paradise of childhood and enter into the "real world" of being adults, God offers us a place of rest.  He offers to carry our worries, stresses and burdens.  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28 

Living in the "real world" does not have to be a burden.  Christ begs us to let Him handle our real world problems.  When we leave our paradise, we still have something to look forward to.  When we leave Eden and enter into a world of sin, God offers us a home in his arms.  Jump into His arms.