Fairly Tales and Truth

Hey diddle the cat and the fiddle

The cow jumped over the moon

The little dog laughed to see such sport

And the dish ran away with the spoon

I still don’t know what that childhood ditty means. But whomever thought of it should have received some sort of prize for creative writing. A Pulitzer for children’s limericks. There are many children’s stories written in the middle-ages through the present that aren't so lighthearted. Witches, goblins, evil kings and queens, wolves that eat grandmothers, poisoned apples. The list of evils awaiting unsuspecting children is boundless and no doubt there was a lot of lost sleep from hearing such stories. I have heard it said the stories were written to teach young children to watch their ways or evil awaited them.

There are grown up stories, too, that offer good or bad choices and the consequences that go with the moral of the story. Some are known as urban myths. Generally untrue. But there are true stories that should and do stir the hearts of those with open minds. The first that comes to mind is the very real story of Adam and Eve. Given paradise in which to dwell eternally, they instead chose to seek beyond what God intended and the consequences were terrible. No longer would they have paradise, but they lost eternal life, and now had to live with the destructiveness of sin. Innocence forever lost.

The bible is filled with true tales of our sinful nature and the pain we and others experience as a result of acting on sinful desires is real and lowers ourselves in our own eyes, and often in the eyes of others. Thank God he has sent a Redeemer to break the chains that kept us trapped in the lifestyle of sin. We had no power to overcome the great power of sin. We were slaves and the first covenant God made with his people failed to break sin’s power. Rules to follow that could have made a real difference could not be followed. The people of God and all humanity were ensnared and powerless to stop sinning.

But our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, took all the weight of our sins and sinful nature and died with them covering him. God raised him from the dead to make it possible for us to be resurrected, too. The power of sin is broken forever and those who believe Jesus is our Savior and confess it openly will be saved, even if we stumble and sin, which we will do from time to time. We are works in progress, being molded into the likeness of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So rejoice that sin is no longer our taskmaster making us do whatever it wants, but rather now we have freedom to flee to the one who forgives when we fail and sin. We now have a power to not sin, though we sometimes will. All is a learning process, just like those fairy tales of so long ago. It’s just that the stories in the bible are true and teach us how to live in freedom and not fear. All is being made ready for us is heaven to be with him.  The cloud of witnesses who have already made it there are cheering us on. Read the promises of God of rejoice in them. He is not a man that he should lie. He is our creator and longs for all to be saved. You are his children, and your Daddy awaits you.

Here is a verse that is true, and unlike the silly children’s limerick, does make sense.

Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens

 and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle

 and humble in your heart,

and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.