“If you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen? There is only one way of finding out.”
“Do you mean that is what you want me to do?” gasped Lucy.
“Yes, little one,” said Aslan.
“Will the others see you too?” asked Lucy.
“Certainly not at first,” said Aslan. “Later on, it depends.”
“But they won’t believe me!” said Lucy.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Aslan. . . . Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up.
“I’m sorry, Aslan,” she said. “I’m ready now.”
“Now you are a lioness,” said Aslan. “And now all Narnia will be renewed. But come. We have no time to lose.”
He got up and walked with stately, noiseless paces back to the belt of dancing trees through which she had just come: and Lucy went with him, laying a rather tremulous hand on his mane. . . .
“Now, child,” said Aslan, when they had left the trees behind them, “I will wait here. Go and wake the others and tell them to follow. If they will not, then you at least must follow me alone.”
~ CS Lewis, from Prince Caspian
“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. “Listen to Me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness: I bring near My righteousness; it is not far off, and My salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.”
~ The Prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 46
Oh beloved, it is true.
We, each of us that have come to know Him, are liable to make the greatest of mistakes. We are so prone to break faith with the One who has saved us.
Oh, it is not that we behave badly. Though, this is often the case in many of our lives. And yes, we can destroy our lives with how we act. We will be enslaved to whatever we submit to. But, the problem is not in the doing. It is deeper.
The problem is one of our being. It is a mindset.
Most of us grew up in some sort of religious, or even anti-religious environment. However, either one of these mindsets are prone to see god as something that He is most surely not: Distant.
The problem is in our lack of remembering. Look even at the word: “re-member.” Throughout His Word, He calls us to remember the great things His has done, His Great Love towards us, and the great things He has in store for us – to be lived out together with Him – forever.
Can we see it?
We have have to let go of our dead sense of religion. We have to let go of the idea that we are trying to struggle through life. We have to let go of the idea that we are alone in this world.
Instead, we have to re-member. We have to understand, that we have already been made one with the One who will never let us go. G_d is not far away. We are in Him, and He is in us.
And in coming to remember, we find that we are a member of His Body. We are a member of His very family. We are a member of the royalty of the universe. We are part of the G_d head. No, of course we are not Him. And still, we are participating now – have membership in – Who They Are.
So, are you feeling cold in your struggle to follow after some distant and stern god? Maybe it is because you do not understand what Jesus has already done. He has reconciled us to Himself through His Life, Death, and Resurrection. We have to come to a place where we trust this.
For when we do, we remember who we are – the very siblings of The L_RD Jesus Christ.
Remember.
Remember.
Oh beloved, just remember!
Getting honest with ourselves does not make us unacceptable to God. It does not distance us from God, but draws us to Him—as nothing else can—and opens us anew to the flow of grace. While Jesus calls each of us to a more perfect life, we cannot achieve it on our own. To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of grace. It is only through grace that any of us could dare to hope that we could become more like Christ. The saved sinner with the tilted halo has been converted from mistrust to trust, has arrived at an inner poverty of spirit, and lives as best he or she can in rigorous honesty with self, others, and God. The question the gospel of grace puts to us is simply this: Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that your weakness could separate you from the love of Christ? It can’t. Are you afraid that your inadequacies could separate you from the love of Christ? They can’t. Are you afraid that your inner poverty could separate you from the love of Christ? It can’t. Difficult marriage, loneliness, anxiety over the children’s future? They can’t. Negative self-image? It can’t. Economic hardship, racial hatred, street crime? They can’t. Rejection by loved ones or the suffering of loved ones? They can’t. Persecution by authorities, going to jail? They can’t. Nuclear war? It can’t. Mistakes, fears, uncertainties? They can’t. The gospel of grace calls out, Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. You must be convinced of this, trust it, and never forget to remember. Everything else will pass away, but the love of Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Faith will become vision, hope will become possession, but the love of Jesus Christ that is stronger than death endures forever. In the end, it is the one thing you can hang onto.
~ Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel:
Amen brother.