If You Love Me, Come Away

In 1843, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a short story entitled, “The New Adam and Eve.” In this short story, Hawthorne imagined the earth without any people. The works of man and infrastructure built by mankind still stood, but mankind was gone. This was the new “Garden of Eden” wherein God placed the new “Adam and Eve.”
As this new “Adam and Eve” explored their new world, they tried to make sense of their surroundings. They visited several buildings (e.g. courthouse, jail, grocery store, etc.) and tried to imagine what the functions of these buildings were. Eventually, they entered a library. While Adam browsed through one of the books in the library, he suggested to Eve that maybe the answers to all their questions might be contained inside one of these volumes. However, Eve was not interested in the contents of the books. Instead, she told Adam to “fling down the book and to leave the library and its musty air for fresher air. Then Eve made the statement that begs to be allegorized. She said, “If you love me, come away.”
Have you ever considered how many people have been enticed to leave the word of God by the very same words? How many people have “flung down” the Bible to follow someone or something else?
Friends, let this fictional short story remind you that there are countless people and things who are calling us away from the word of God. They seek meaning in life in other places and in other ways. They have no interest in the contents of the Bible. In fact, in their impatience, they may force us to make a choice, saying, “If you love me, come away.”
How will you respond to such an invitation? Will you fling down the Bible for “fresher air,” or will you cling to the Bible and embrace the answers it provides?