I never thought much about walking until a ruptured tendon left me out of action. A quick trip to the Emergency Room resulted in crutches for six weeks. The doctor told me to elevate my leg for a few days, which brought an additional complication. As I lay on the couch with my leg elevated, I did not realize I was pointing my foot. When I went back to the doctor several days later, I tiptoed into the examining room. It did not take long for him to diagnose the problem. Atrophied muscles would not allow my heel to lie flat on the ground. He explained that physical therapy would be necessary if I wanted to walk again. A good physical therapist got me walking, but there was a cost to get back the mobility I had lost.
Genesis 3 records the fall of Adam and Eve, but woven into their story is a statement about God. He was in the garden walking in the cool of the day. It almost sounds like he was out for a leisurely stroll when hell was unleashed on Earth. Adam and Eve go into hiding and God goes on a walk, but not just any walk. God walks toward man after the fall. He doesn't leave them to face the consequences alone. He walks in the middle of the aftermath, graciously providing a covering for Adam and Eve’s nakedness and a promise of a future descendant who would restore what had been lost.
Four thousand years passed before Jesus, the promised descendant, appeared walking by the Jordan River. God, who walked towards Adam and Eve in the garden, now walked as one of us. As predicted in Genesis 3, the serpent struck the heel of Jesus, temporarily immobilizing him. That was the cost to reclaim what had been lost, and Jesus willingly paid it. He took the judgment and punishment we rightly deserved. His walk was anything but leisurely. It was the long, painful walk of redemption that began long ago when God took a walk in the garden.
Pamela Hall
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