Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well. (Albany in King Lear

    My husband, my son, and I live in Colorado, and many winter mornings we awake to find a pristine world of dazzling snow. Every surface — the yard, the driveway, the blacktopped street — is concealed under a pure and frosty blanket of white. It’s with great excitement that we hurry to tug on our boots, zip up our coats, slide on our gloves, and swathe every remaining part of our bodies in scarves. We want to be the first ones out!

    We trek across what was our lawn and carefully fall backward into the perfect white carpet, splaying our limbs to make “snow angels.” Even more carefully we struggle to extract ourselves from our designs and turn around to admire our snowy handiwork. We were there. We made our mark!

    Before long, of course, we’re throwing snowballs, packing mounds of cold, wet stuff into makeshift forts, and adjusting tiny stones to create a face on our snowman. The fresh, white world is quickly gone, and all that’s left is a well-trampled, soggy mess.

    But at least the scene started out fresh, new — undefiled. Other places sometimes have that same quality. Think of a beach after a receding tide. Fresh sand and untouched seashells await the trample of feet and the burst of sun-soaked activity. Who will be the first one to leave footprints in that smooth, unmarked surface? Who will be the first to find that perfect shell, newly deposited by the lapping waves?

    Or consider the appeal of wet cement — a wide, flat, still-damp palette just waiting for the fingertips of a young, mischievous, would-be artist ... Should you leave a mark?

    Now think of what the world must have been like for the first woman, Eve. Like the scenes above, everything around her was fresh and new, crackling with flawless beauty and infinite possibility. The earth had yet to be touched. Except for Adam, no one had come before her to tamper with perfection.

    She and Adam had the privilege of being the first human beings to make their mark on what was a truly undefiled environment. They were the first ones to leave their footprints in the sand. The first ones to see the power and beauty of a waterfall. The first ones to hear the roar of a lion and the song of a bird. The first ones to stop and smell the roses. The first ones to laugh. And as we all know, the first ones to cry.

We’re still reeling from the impact today.

    We tend to forget all the delightful “firsts” Eve got to enjoy in those weeks and months after the Creation because of that other first she’s best remembered for: Eve was the first one to sin. And by sinning — by choosing to disobey her Creator and encouraging her husband to follow suit — she left a huge, dark fingerprint on the world, forever marring the beauty of all that God made. We’re still reeling from the impact today.

    Before Eve’s sin, the world was like our miniature models of untouched snow, smooth sand, even wet cement. Everything was perfect and beautiful — until someone came along and left a mark. Of course, some marks are temporary. Snow angels vanish as the temperature rises; footprints in the sand wash away with the next high tide. But the marks we leave on the lives of others cannot be removed.

    As I mentioned earlier, our fingerprints leave a lasting impression. Eve’s certainly did. Talk about a permanent record! That’s why Eve is one of the best examples we can study as we consider the impact of a woman’s touch. Certainly, her example is not one we want to emulate, but we can clearly see the impact of her touch on the world. Her actions changed the life of Adam, the lives of her children, and the life of every human being since — you and me included. We are all sinners.

    Okay, enough of the bad news. The good news is that even though Eve left a tragic and devastating mark on the world, God has made a provision to actually erase those fingerprints. He doesn’t just cover the stain of sin with a giant, cosmic whiteout brush. Rather, through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, he wipes the slate clean for all those who choose to accept his free gift and believe in his name.

    This brings up two points to consider. First, it’s easy to see that we’re each marked with sin. None of us can truly say we’ve got it all together. Our faults are simply too glaring (at least mine are!). The question is, have you asked Jesus to erase the stain of sin in your life and put his own permanent mark on you? Romans 3:23 reminds us that even though every one of us has sinned, we can be made clean through the gift of grace and redemption offered through Jesus Christ.

    Second, you need to ask yourself: whose lives are being impacted by your touch? Look around this week and take notice. Who sees your frown or smile? Who hears your laugh or growl? Who reads your scathing memo or your note of encouragement? And then consider the effect. Are you, like Eve, dragging down those near to you and causing a chain reaction that drags others down, down, down? Or is that chain reaction like a film of falling dominoes played in reverse, each piece gently pushing up and steadying the one before it?

    Through the actions of Eve, the world was marked with a fingerprint of destruction. Through the actions of Jesus Christ, the world can be made clean and new. Through your actions, others can be brought toward Christ and his love... or not. It’s up to you.

God of Creation, let us see the world as a fresh place to begin making fingerprints for you.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

© From her book, "A Woman's Touch: The Fingerprints Left Behind" © 2001, Howard Publishing Company. Used by permission. This article cannot be reprinted in another publication without written permission of the publisher. Click here to buy this title online!

Title: "Cleaning Up After Eve"
Author: Amy Nappa
Publication Date: March 15, 2002

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