He always manages to say something that gets me thinking, but something happened during this movie that literally sent shivers down my spine. Near the end of the movie, Aslan is sending Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their cousin Eustace, back to their world, and informs Edmund and Lucy that they have learned all they could from Narnia, and therefore would not be returning. I was only halfway paying attention when all of this was going on because I was thinking about how amazing it would be to have that kind of a loving, face-to-face relationship with the Lord. I was also entertaining the thought of having a pet lion, but I digress.
Anyway! Troubled by what Aslan was telling her, Lucy asked, "Will you come and visit us in our world?" Aslan replied, "I will be watching you always." Confused, Lucy asked a simple, "How?" Then Aslan responded with this,
"In your world, I have another name. You must learn to know me by it."
In that moment I felt so convicted. There I was, sitting on my couch wishing that I could have as close of a relationship with God as Lucy did with Aslan. Meanwhile, I knew deep down that God is longing to have an even closer one. The truth is that I am the one holding it back.
In the second movie, Price Caspian, Aslan and Lucy are once again talking after the older Pevensie children had gone off to war. The older children had begun to lose hope that Aslan would come to their aid, and therefore began to take matters into their own hands instead of waiting for his guidance. Meanwhile, Lucy claimed to have seen Aslan, but her siblings did not believe her. When she finally finds him, she exclaims, "I knew it was you. The whole time I knew it, but the others didn't believe me." Aslan then asks, "Why would that stop you from coming to me?" The next shot shows Lucy sitting on the ground with the mighty lion directly in front of her. They are having an intimate, face-to-face conversation.
This also convicts me. I put way more effort into wanting a closer relationship with God than I do pursuing it.
We all have things that hold us back from pursuing God intimately. I want to encourage you with this: Whatever it may be, challenge it, and ask yourself why it keeps you from God. Or imagine God asking you the same question that Aslan asked Lucy if you have to.
I'm busy.
"Why would that stop you from coming to me?"
I'm tired.
"Why would that stop you from coming to me?"
I have to finish this assignment.
"Why would that stop you from coming to me?"
I've had a bad day.
"Why would that stop you from coming to me?"
If you want to have a sit-down talk with God, then sit down and talk to Him. Don't give God excuses. Tell Him what you're so busy with and pray for peace. Tell Him why you're so tired, and ask for the strength to carry on. Tell Him about that assignment and ask for His guidance. Tell Him why your day was so bad. He wants to know.
How amazing is it to know that God Almighty loves us and wants to have an intimate relationship with us? It's really neat to imagine having a face-to-face conversation with God in the form of a lion, but we have a better opportunity even still. We can have a face-to-face conversation with the God who created the form of the lion, and for some reason still finds us even more beautiful than it.
