Remembering Narnia

Recently, my kids and I watched the first Chronicles of Narnia movie for their first time. I was hesitant to show it to them because of the violence, but I decided that the good message far outweighed the bad. I'm so glad I did. My almost five year old daughter glued herself to the television. She fell in love with Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy along with Aslan, the lion king. She asked a million questions throughout the movie, and it sparked some teachable moments. I didn't expect, however, for the experience to convict me of my own sin--my sin of forgetting the impact of the cross and resurrection.

When my precious daughter broke down watching Aslan being killed by the White Witch, she looked at me with alligator tears streaming down her face, pleading with me to tell her that everything was going to be okay. She exclaimed, "He is good! He did nothing wrong! Why is he dying for Edmund?" Then, when Aslan was resurrected, the pure joy she had seeing that he had defeated death brought tears to my eyes. No matter how many times I told her that everything was going to be okay and that this was a happy movie, she didn't believe me until Aslan came back to life. God hit me where it hurt during these moments. How many times do I take the cross for granted? How many times do I overlook that it was for me, the one who turned (and still turns) my back on Him? How many times do I forget how innocent His blood was? How many times do I flippantly think or talk about the resurrection without rejoicing in my soul? Too many to count, I'm afraid. 

Forgive me, Lord. Forgive us all for forgetting. 

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice!" Philippians 4:4 (ESV)