I slumped to a sitting position against the cold, damp wall, and sighed. “I just don’t get it,” I breathed. “If He is good King, and if we were made to live… free…” I said the word haltingly, unused to saying it. “Then why are we here?”
I thought I heard a faint groan as Ebed turned to look out the tiny, barred window. “It is our fault, Doulos. We put ourselves here. We sealed our own fate.”
“But—“ I stammered. “But I don’t even remember coming here. I do not remember ever being free.”
“Because you never were. You were born a prisoner, like all of us. Way back at the beginning, when the King created the first man and woman, He gave them very specific instructions on how to live. His instructions were not hard, but He left the choice to them…” His voice seemed to evaporate into memory.
I waited a few moments before turning to him. “And?”
“And they failed, Doulos. They believed the cursed deceiver instead of their King. Oh, oh!” His voice sounded so pained, I winced. “They must not have realized! How else could they have given it all up: the beauty, the perfection, the very nearness of the King Himself… Think of it, Doulos. Just think of it! Walks in the cool of the day with the King.”
“But— why? What would make them rebel against Him?”
Here Doulos looked at me, and I had to look away because of the intensity in his eyes. “The very thing that makes us do the same,” he said. “Sin. We want our own way. We think we know best. We want to be free from the restraint of His law.” He chuckled, but it sounded cold and harsh. “Just look where that freedom has gotten us.”
I tried to take a deep breath, but my chest felt heavy. Never before had I seen the horror of my situation. “So—“ I faltered, “What is there to do?”
“Nothing.” he said. “All we can do is sit here in our chains, dead men in prison, and await execution.”
“Await… what???”
Ebed sighed again. “We did it to ourselves. I told you already. We broke the King’s law, so we deserve death.”
A wave of mixed anger and fear crashed over me, and I began to tremble. “You are lying to me,” I whispered. “The King wouldn’t do that. It is not fair! I never did anything that bad. You—you are lying, Ebed…”
But deep down, I knew with all my shuddering heart he was right. I knew I had broken the righteous laws of the King, and I deserved death. I knew He was too good to overlook my crime, and could do nothing but administer justice.
I looked away from Ebed. I wished I had never spoken to him. But little did I know that understanding my problem would open the way for me to see the answer when it came.
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