One of the first games we learned as a child is hide and seek. The rules appear simple enough, it is when one person, by signifying, one potato, two potato, three potato, is designated to count (typically to ten [10]), while all the other participants run and hide. Consequently, some are found almost immediately, as they were unable to successfully conceal themselves, and then there are others in which it takes some time to find. By playing with familiar friends long enough it was always easy to conclude who would be caught first, and who would remain well hidden, withstanding the length of the search. We would run and chase until we were overcome by exhaustion, doing our best to make our way to home base, careful to avoid being tagged.Doing so would force the counter to finally say Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free. Meaning it is finally “safe” for everyone to come out and return home, without consequence, drawing that phase of the game to a sudden and near immediate close (depending on the amount of remaining daylight). Hide and Seek, is considered one of the world’s oldest games that pre-date ancient Greece and is played in some variation on every continent globally.
In fact, we can say the very first version of hide and seek, is as old as humanity itself, the moment in which Adam sinned and God sought him out.
Today’s podcast is titled.
Hide & Seek
Genesis 3:8-9
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
They (meaning Adam and Eve) hid and covered themselves, as God inquired saying, Adam, where art thou? He was presented an opportunity to come home cleanly, the plea was made, and when asked, his words were, that woman, you gave me. Similarly, Cain’s response after slaying his brother Abel was, am I my brother's keeper?, further asking, Shall I be hid from thy face?
Sin creates a challenge for each of us. If we live long enough, it is inescapable, something in which we are entwined, but not easily freed. Our most egregious sins (not that any are greater than the other), cause us to hide, physically (not possible) and more often spiritually from He who created us. Considering in our hearts that His grace and mercy only extends to others, but never us. How can His love peer through our hurt and sorrow, how can He love us, when the world of humanity has so easily abandoned us. Some may ask, can He hear me, while others would purely ask, does He care? When we are overcome, we are not hoping to get caught, but rather waiting for someone to bid us to come home free, to save us from death's grip, and he who seeks only to destroy our soul, separating us eternally from God.
