Sin

We awaken this morning with the news that Whitney Houston has died. The media seems to be trying to drum up some state of shock but really, are we? When the Mr. came in to tell me the news, I wasn't shocked. I was sad. Not shocked.
We are fragile, that is the only lesson to be learned. We are self-destructive by our very instincts. We are uncomfortable saying things like sin, we never want to say that anyone is bad. But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you must not eat; for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. Genesis 2:17
Did Eve 's heart stop when she took that forbidden taste? No, indeed she went to Adam to share. What she shared was not food, it was knowledge. The death they experienced was a different definition than that which we usually consider. To paraphrase,
"You must not do things which I tell you not to do (you must not eat). The moment that you disobey (gain knowledge of evil), you step outside of my presence (die.)"
There was not special power in the fruit itself, the power was in the will of man to rebel.
The serpent said-"For God knows, the moment you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened and you will be as gods; knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5
Knowing good and evil, that is the death which God desired to spare us. After their disobedience, Adam & Even began a chain of events that we still stumble through. They realized they were naked. Shame was born. Condemnation spoke, "what you are is ugly." They attempted to cover themselves with inadequately with fig leaves, "do what you have to do to feel better." With their new knowledge of their own brokeness, they saw God through the lens of sin and no longer trusted him, "run & hide."
Then again, another link was added to the chain, God went after them. He gave them adquate covering (and the first blood sacrifice occured, the first statement that we would need Jesus.)
God didn't erase the memory of their sin, he covered it and enabled them to continue to live. But they lived with consequences. Things were changed. A price was paid.
I cannot sit and shake my head at Whitney Houston's life. I have, in my own ways, taken from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
After God had covered Adam & Eve, he cast them out of the garden and prevented them returning. Perhaps, a loving God, took Whitney Houston at a moment when she was covered? We cannot know.
We can only know that we are fragile. The knowledge of sin is a stone that weighs heavily in our souls. We must not be the voice that whispers, "you are naked...run & hide." We must go after those who are hiding in the leaves and assure them that they can be covered.