One of my most favorite classic children's stories has always been the one about the gingerbread man. "You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!" There are many things I love about the story, apart from the obvious, the fact that it's about a cookie and, well, I kinda like them...a lot! I like to bake them and I especially love eating them, but the story of the Gingerbread Man is deliciously laden with hidden symbolism. A sad but telling tale that we can all learn a few things from.Let's take a trip down memory lane and recap the plight of the little cookie. There was a little old woman and a little old man who were lonely because they didn't have any children. The old woman lovingly created and baked the gingerbread man to keep them company but when she opened the oven to see if he was ready, he sprang to life and ran away. The couple chased after him but he was too fast for them, and as he scurried out of sight he called out those famous words "Run! Run! As fast as you can! You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
You have to admit how sad it is that the old couple just wanted to love him, but he ran away from them. That part of the story reminds me of how our Heavenly Father created us to have fellowship with Him but in reality we all start out the story of our lives by running away as well, just like the wayward cookie.
Now we all know the fate of the Gingerbread Man and we want to yell "Go back, Go back!" But the Gingerbread Man ran on. He passed the pig and the cow and the horse one at a time, and they all wanted to eat him, but he would just laugh and say "Run! Run! As fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man. I ran away from all the others and now I will run away from you!" and run he did, until he came to the river.
The cookie was pretty full of himself by this time. After all, he had done very well on his own. He is quite a talented little fella. He's witty enough to come up with a phrase we still remember today and he can even run faster than a horse. Apparently he was also quite attractive. Everyone seemed to want a bite of him.
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
But now came an obstacle he needed a little help with. How does a cookie cross a river? With a little help from his friends of course...or so he thought. Along came the fox who was sly and cunning and he convinced the little cookie to climb onto his tail and ride across to the other side. We all know the little Gingerbread Man never made it to the other side of the river, but where did he go wrong? After all, it wasn't his fault he smelled delicious. How could he help it if the fox was hungry? He just came out of the oven a few minutes ago, cut him some slack! If he had only turned and run back into his makers arms before it was too late how different the tale (tail...fox tail...get it? Ha!) would have been.
I'll be the first to admit that this story is sadly lacking a hero character that steps in and saves the little cookie's ginger butt. If I could re-write the story, I would have the old man row across the river, capture the fox and rescue the Gingerbread Man, but, it is what it is. There is no salvation for our colorful cookie friend. The choice was his to make and he made the wrong one.
Lucky for us our own story was written by a different author and our hero is alive and well and sitting at the right hand of God! Amen? Unlike the old man, our Savior never gives up on us no matter what we do. The fox is no match for Him! But keep in mind, he can only save us if we let him. The choice is up to us.
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Until next time my friend,
Strength and Honor in Christ
