Don't Lose the Wonder

I remember living in Narnia for three days as a teenager. C.S. Lewis had created a world that completely drew me in and allowed my imagination to run wild. It was a world filled with wonder that felt more real than the pages between my fingers.

Not much has changed. You'll often catch me in a trance; daydreaming and looking quite similar to my third grade self. I don’t check the back of old wardrobes anymore although I do still try to shoot web from wrists when no one is looking.

I was always scared to grow up. I was afraid that I would lose the sense of wonder I had as a kid. Sometimes, I still am.

It’s so easy to lose. We have responsibility, jobs, and bills. Many of you have kids and families who depend on you. This raises the bar of responsibility even higher and requires more of you than I have yet to experience. Is there even time to be amazed? How can we resurrect that sense of wonder that was once so alive?

Think of the things that inspired wonder in you as a child. Try to recall the themes of the stories that filled your deepest longings and desires. Every single one of them is found and outdone in the story of Christ.
He is a hero that far outdoes Spidey in every way. He left his “normal” and entered the darkness to save you. He wants you to join him in His mission of reconciling the world by being a light in the very darkness you were saved from. You are His ambassador. He is your friend.

There are battles to fight, enemies to engage, and obstacles to overcome. There are hungry children who need to be fed and innocent people who need protecting. Who will do it if not you?

Rejection is expected. The darkness does not often welcome the light.

When all is said and done you will leave this broken world and go to a place far better than this one. There will be no more war, no more sadness, and no more death. Everything that is broken, He will fix. You will live in a place more beautiful and walk with one too glorious for the boundaries of your imagination. You will be home.

The life you live was not meant to play second fiddle to fairy tales or fiction. The King you serve is real. His kingdom is imminent. You were created to be a part of it and to help build it.

It’s time to fill in the lines of the black and white version of Jesus you have in your adult-sized brain. Get out your crayons and rediscover the beautiful, colorful version of Jesus and his story. 

Don’t lose the wonder.