1 JOHN 5:14

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (NIV)

TO PONDER

I was recently watching the 2005 movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” when a question suddenly occurred to me, who do I relate to most in the movie? Or to take it a step further, who am I in the story, which character most represents me?

That’s when I was struck with a bit of a revelation, not one of those ‘joyful’ revelations that instantly builds you up but rather one of those revelations which knocks you down a bit when the truth hits you! I was in fact Edmund, the spoilt, spiteful, mean-spirited Edmund.

Paul reminds us in Romans 3 that we are all, in fact Edmund-esque. In Romans 3:9-26 he reminds us that we are useless, unrighteous, foul-mouthed, liars, and bitter just to paraphrase a few verses from this uplifting section of Paul’s letter… See Edmund-esque! But, that’s not how God sees us on the other-side of grace.

In the movie we see how Aslan the lion steps in to give his life for Edmund. Edmund who didn’t deserve forgiveness; Edmund who was the epitome of all the negatives described in Romans 3. Aslan the Jesus-esque character in C.S. Lewis’s novels knew who Edmund was on the other-side of grace. Today’s verse is not a reminder of a prosperity gospel, a ‘name-it-and-claim-it’ theology but rather it’s a reminder of our identity on the other-side of grace. To remind us that what Jesus already did for us allows us to speak boldly to God despite of what we've done.

It’s all about grace.

PRAYER:  Saviour Jesus, I thank you that we can confidently, in boldness bring our asking to God not because of what we did but because of what you did for us on the cross. Amen.

Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside