Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden…”
Genesis 2:8, 16
When I was in high school, I was one day driving my sister to dance class. I came to an intersection, looked both ways, pulled out and hit a guy on his bike. The guy was OK but the bike was wrecked. In a total panic I was asking questions like “What do you need? What can I do?” He asked for $100 for bike repairs which I did not have. A woman nearby overheard, and told me to come with her to an ATM where she took out $100 and gave it to me, which I in turn gave to the man I hit with the bike.
I didn’t lose anything that day but a headlight and some confidence in my driving, but I spent weeks trying to figure out how I was scammed. No one just gives large sums of money to strangers. It had to be a setup—even though, again, I didn’t lose anything.
Giving freely without conditions feels unnatural.
But actually not only is it natural, it’s the way we, humanity, are instructed to interact with our world. “You may freely eat…”
Freely giving, freely receiving is how we were designed to operate. Sin, which is unnatural, tells us that everything is earned and earned because we’re worth it. Christ in his life, death and resurrection reminds us of this and restores the original order. You are loved, not for what you offer, and despite your constant and gratuitous failure. He freely gave and asks you to freely receive.
May you go in Peace.