Our Original Nature

The other night we rented Skyfall, that James Bond movie. We started it pretty late and I won the argument of where we should watch it. Owen wanted the downstairs flat screen, I insisted the laptop in bed (because I knew I would fall asleep and didn't want to have to move when it was over. But, don't tell him that because he always checks if I'm awake and I always pretend I am). Anyhow, asleep I fell.

I saw the opening scene and thought it was so ridiculous that he lived, with no explanation as to how, so I boycotted by falling asleep faster than usual. I randomly woke up at ONE part, in the whole movie. So, really, I'm sure it was a great movie, but I missed it. The one part I saw was some guy, don't know who he was or what he was talking about, but I'm going to share what he said. Only because I can't stop thinking about it. If you hate rats, the thought of it will probably gross you out. 'Infested with rats' is like the most grotesque visualization in the history of visualizations. But, bear with me. I think I have a point. Maybe. I'm writing it out to see if I do. So here's what this guy interrupted my deep sleep with.

"My grandmother had an island when I was a boy. Nothing to boast of. You could walk along it in an hour. But still, it was - it was a paradise for us. One summer, we came for a visit and discovered the whole place had been infested with rats. They'd come on a fishing boat and had gorged themselves on coconut. So how do you get rats off an island, hmm? My grandmother showed me. We buried an oil drum, and hinged the lid. Then we wired coconut to the lid as bait. The rats come for the coconut. They fall into the drum, and after a month, you've trapped all the rats. But what did you do then? Throw the drum into the ocean? Burn it? No. You just leave it. And they begin to get hungry, then one by one they start eating each other, until there are only two left. The two survivors. And then what - do you kill them? No. You take them, and release them into the trees. Only now, they don't eat coconut anymore. Now they will only eat rat. You have changed their nature." -- (Source)

Ok, so yes. Gross.

But it got me thinking. They weren't created to be cannibals. They liked coconuts! But, the options the world gave them changed their nature. 

In the first chapter of the Bible, God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature...God created human beings; He created them godlike, reflecting God's nature," (Genesis 1:26-28, The Message).

From the moment our little lips take their first sip of oxygen, we are reflecting the nature of God. But, the world will try to strip that from us. Yes, I believe we were born with original sin, but we were also designed to be like Him! I mean, the list could never be numbered, but the Bible tells us some of His charactersitcs. To name a few: He is holy, He is just, He is merciful, He is faithful, He is truth, He is love.

A friend of mine who I haven't seen in a while, met Jace the other day when he was being babysat, so I wasn't there. The friend messaged me afterwards saying she loved meeting him and said 'he has so many similar facial expressions as you do!' He does? I didn't know! But, I LOVED hearing that. He is my boy. He is reflecting my characteristics.

Just like us. And our Father.We were created to reflect His image. And parts of His image are those things I mentioned: holy, just, merciful, faithful, truthful, loving.

It's part of our nature, only because He is part of our nature. The options the world tries to bombard us with often will make us stray from that. To look out for ourselves and be mean and arrogant and hateful and spiteful and liars and thieves and gossipers and unfaithful and unjust and unmerciful and untruthful and unloving.

If we aren't careful and let ourselves feed into the options the world gives us instead of spending our days reflecting the nature of our Creator and what He originally designed us to be, then we will become just like the rats. We will have a new natural.

The problem with the rats was that once they were so far removed from the coconuts, they didn't even recognize them as a viable means to survival anymore. It just wasn't even an option because it wasn't familiar.

I don't want to walk so far into the world that I don't even recognize who God originally created me to be. I want His nature to always be familiar.