The Wild Lion

He is not a tame lion. He is not safe, but he is good. C.S. Lewis penned these words in his book, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe." This story, and the other parts of the Chronicles of Narnia, are loose parables of God and His dealings with man. Sometimes they are mirror images and other times the mirror is a little more cloudy. Nonetheless, Aslan the Lion is a picture of Jesus Christ.

In the book, one character, upon hearing that the often mentioned Aslan is a lion, asks another, "is he safe?" The reply is the quote at the beginning. "He is not a tame lion. He is not safe, but he is good." That is an excellent description of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah! He is not tame, He is not safe, but He is GOOD!

You can't just casually take Him and leave Him, nor turn your back on Him. You must keep Him as the center of your focus. You must give him your direct attention just as you would a lion in the zoo into whose habitat you stumbled. The overwhelming difference in Jesus and a wild lion is His goodness. He is ferocious, yet loving. He is powerful enough to rip us apart but compassionate enough to be ripped apart for us. He is the prime example of power restrained, but do not take his meekness for weakness.

When He returns to claim His own, we will see Him with fire in His eyes. Where once He breathed His last, He will be breathing a two-edged sword when He returns! So until Jesus splits the sky, lets keep our eyes and heart focused on the Lion. Do not become too relaxed with Him, do not take Him for granted. He is good, but He is not tame.

What more does he need to do?

I hate hearing bad news.  I hate bad news about christians.  I hate bad news about myself.  Far too often I hear about another brother or sister who has failed miserably and more often than that, I look in the mirror and see how terribly I fail time and again.  No matter who the culprit is, I have to ask myself, "What more does he need to do to make you (me) love him?"  

Why do we believe urban legends, myths and folklore and yet live like the blood-bought gospel is a fairy tale?  My soul cries out because of our unbelief.  We know all the answers and say all the right things except NO!  We give in to sin and temptation so easily when we have every reason and opportunity to resist.  God, you are greater than temptation and your love covers over a multitude of sins.  May the sacrifice of the cross become enough to sway my heart to love.  Come Lord Jesus.

Jesus: Yay or Yawn?

Ripping down 6 foot street signs, jumping over fires, climbing trees.  All ways to celebrate a national championship.  It makes perfect sense.  I don't know about you, but when my team wins something I want to rip something down.  That was the scene a few weeks ago in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  The Tarheel faithful, along with yours truly, were celebrating on Franklin St. soon after North Carolina demolished Michigan State for the National Championship.  I hadn't planned on being there, but some friends and I were in west Raleigh for a meeting that night and were watching the game.  As soon as it ended we said, "Let's go!"  That's all it took, 6 guys jumped in a van and took the 20 minute trip to Franklin St.  The scene was unbelievable.  It was pretty tame compared to the violence that happens at some championship celebrations, but the jubilation was unparalleled.  People leaped over fires like Jack jumping over the candle stick.  I have to admit, that was one I got in on.  People were climbing trees.  They were on rooftops, store fronts, and traffic poles.  One guy was surfing a six foot Columbia Ave. sign being carried by a stumbling mass of college students. 

Everyone was excited, dancing, giving five, cheering and just all out celebrating.  Nearly everyone had the same purpose, to let the world know who they loved!  As we waded through the sea of people, it hit me like a ton of bricks, "why doesn't the church get this excited about Jesus...ever?"  I know it may be a little much to ask that we all stay that excited all the time, but how about every now and then?  There are times that call for true quiet reflection and reverence, or even righteous anger, but couldn't every couple of months or so, throw in a little joy and jubilation?  I know why the joyous moments are too few and far between for me.  Maybe the same reason rings true for you as well.  I don't get too excited with the Jesus that we've created.    The savior who demands just enough to save us from hell, but not enough to change the world or shake up my daily life.  The Jesus that says more in trinkets and t-shirts than from my lips.  And I definitely don't get all hot and bothered by the Jesus who is little more than a community organizer and doesn't scream from the cross, "It is Finished!"  

Maybe its time that I and maybe even you get reacquainted with the Savior from the Word.  Who knows, things might get a little rowdy.

Kablooie!

It's funny to watch kids try to hide something they are not supposed to have.  Even though you've already seen the toy, switchblade or other contraband in their hand, they put it behind their back.  They think that they've hidden it from you and magically erased all memory of the object from your psyche.  We laugh to ourselves and think, "O, Silly little person."  That's not exactly what we think; but you get the picture.  

But just how different are we than little kids?  There are things in our lives that we try to hide from God and each other and we fail miserably.  In theory, most of us know that we can't hide anything from God, but yet we still try.  

In I Samuel 15, we find King Saul going to attack the Amalekites as God commanded.  Now this might be troubling for you, but God said, "totally destroy everything that belongs to them."  God clearly included even the women and children, cattle, sheep, and other animals.  You might be asking why.  The basic reason, for sake of time, is that these people had known God and rejected Him and were very evil.  If they were brought into the Israelite nation, they would have led many astray.  God, in His wisdom, knew that they could not withstand an attack from within.  

But that's not the point.  The point is, Saul destroyed everything.  Almost.  He destroyed every person and creature except the King, and the best of the livestock.  The Bible points out they spared "everything that was good."  Saul claimed they spared these things to offer them to the Lord.  It seemed like a good reason.  God didn't think so.  The text says that God was "grieved". His heart was broken that He had appointed Saul as king.  

In Saul's mind he had obeyed God, he even said that he had.  But Saul came to understand a major point and we would do well to follow.  God does not desire 75% obedience.  He doesn't want 9/10ths of your life.  He doesn't want half of your devotion.  He wants it all.  Every last drop.  When he calls you to purge sin from your life, he means every sin (Hebrews 12:1).  He doesn't want you to hold on to that secret sin that no one knows about.  He wants it all destroyed.  He doesn't want you to spare the best.  It all has to be put to death.  Why?

Why is God so demanding?  He knows that if you leave one small morsel of sin in your life, that it will grow and devastate you.  It will soon become your master and run your life.  Just like Saul, you won't be able to fellowship with God, you won't be full of God's spirit anymore.   

So what do you and I do?  We spend time everyday asking for wisdom to see ourselves as we really are.  We pray that God will help us to look into the mirror that is God's Word and we'll rejoice over the things that bring him joy and be disgusted by the things that turn his stomach.  If we have the goal to utterly destroy sin in our life, we'll be a part of the kingdom...forever.