Today marks the opening day of the latest movie in a series of movies based on C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia." I was able to catch a pre-release screening of "The Voyage of The Dawn Treader," and I have to admit in my opinion it is the best of the three movies so far. Though I think you would love the movie, I'm not attempting to make this BLOG an ad for the movie.
For those who haven't read the book, I'll try not to spoil the movie for you. But, there is a part in the story where the character Eustace becomes a dragon. Having given into his "flesh" if you will, he becomes something he hates. No matter how hard he tries, he can't fix himself. He can't rid himself of the thing that he has become. And, though he has friends and family who see him in this state, nobody can help him. Interesting enough, Eustace is a good dragon, but even being good, doesn't fix him.
Not sure if you've ever been there, but I'm thinking the story of Eustace is one that most of us can relate to. I'm thinking C.S. Lewis had a great handle on humanity and the struggle we face to fix ourselves when he penned this story. Its a struggle that dates all the way back to the beginning. In the garden of Eden, something tragic occurred that left us all fighting to get back to the place God designed us to be. Adam and his bride, tried to fix the situation with fig leaves and found that was about as effective as putting a bandaid on a severed artery. We don't use fig leaves today, but our attempts are just as futile. Just like Eustace, we try and we try, but every attempt is a complete failure. No matter what we do, we can't shed the dragon skin. We can't fix ourselves, and no loving friend or family member can fix us either.
I'm thinking Paul understood this when he wrote in Romans, "The things I don't want to do, those are the things I do. And the things I want to do, those are the things I don't do." Paul understood, C.S. Lewis understood, and believe me, our Creator understood better than anyone. He saw us in our hopeless estate, and knew that mankind had no hope in fixing himself. He and He alone could save us. The price for Him would be a hefty one, but somehow and someway He found us to be worth it. Our liberation would require nothing short of His sacrifice. His willingness to pay that price, indeed set us free from the dragon we had become. He removed the dragon skin, but more importantly, He changed our identity from the inside out. And though we may act like that dragon from time to time, it is no longer truly who we are.
I'm not sure where you find yourself on this journey, but Jesus came not simply to offer you a ticket to heaven someday. He came to liberate you here, and now. There is indeed a freedom that God designed all of us to live in, but apart from Him we can never obtain it. Jesus came to give you life! A life of freedom! A life worth living! If you find yourself like Eustace in Narnia, no longer able to recognize the being that you've become, and longing for the kind of life you know you were created for, there is hope for you. In Narnia, C.S. Lewis called Him, Aslan. His name in this world is Jesus. The prayer isn't some long and difficult religious one. Its one that simply comes from the heart of one who has come to the realization that they can't fix themselves on their own. It goes something like this, "Jesus, help me!"
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