“Your prescription will be ready in 20 minutes,” said the Walmart pharmacist. So, I had some waiting time. I had collected a cart and started walking the aisles, when out of the children’s clothing section marched a young girl, about nine years old, crying and looking very distressed.
I called out to see if everything was okay. I was ignored as she ran off. After raising eight children, there is enough parent left in me to recognize that this was not an emergency. Likely, this was the reaction of a little girl who was just denied a clothing item.
As I made my way around the store, I noticed this girl intentionally hiding on the lower shelves; first near the toys, then hardware, then pillows, then dog food. She was making her way around the perimeter of the store. It was not long before we heard the announcement over the store intercom, “Code Adam – there is a little girl lost in the store.”
Having noticed her movements, I calculated where she would likely be and sure enough, there she was hiding in a corner. I called to the manager of the store and paused to watch the family reunion in the main aisle.
Photo credit: Drazen Zigic
Code Adam originated from the 1981 abduction of six-year-old Adam Walsh from a Sears store in Florida. Following his abduction, a standard procedure was developed to use when a child is missing. It is a program that many public places use to help lock down a store or an event when a child goes missing.
I did not know where the term Code Adam came from. As our English language incorporates many expressions and short phrases taken from the Bible, I always assumed Code Adam came from the first search for a lost person in the Bible. In Genesis 3:9, God called out to Adam, “Where are you?”
Adam and Eve, through disobedience to God’s one command, had brought about their separation from God. God’s heart was broken as this curse of sin, now running down like a polluted river to all future generations, was brought to all people. The result was seen in 1 Corinthians 15:22, where it says, “For as in Adam all die.” That is our dilemma – eternal separation from God. But that verse is not ended, the last half of the verse tells us that, “even so in Christ all shall be made alive”.
Jesus came, “to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). We are reminded that, “the Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14). Jesus Christ came to this world to provide the remedy for our inherited sinful nature. His miracles and His gracious life were proof of His divine power and merit, but these were not the solution. Our sin required death, and so He intentionally went to a Roman cross, and there willingly died. As He suffered there, we learn from the Bible that God was punishing Him for our sins. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
Jesus never sinned. He could not sin, but He took our place to endure the judgment we deserve. He died; He was buried; He rose from the dead. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). This gift is wonderful news. You can receive it today!
Ron and Nancy Burley
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