Mary and I were watching Prince Caspian before I went into work this evening. When the kids are looking to cross a river, Lucy sees Aslan, but is the only one. Why? she is the only one looking for him. Then later there is a conversation between Lucy and Susan:

Susan: Why didn’t I see Aslan?

Lucy: Maybe you didn’t want to.

I think this is endemic in the church. We get into the Sunday services. We even volunteer, but are we looking for Christ?

Over at the Jesus Creed Blog: Scot McKnight is doing a review of King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus by Tim Keller and makes this observation about Keller’s take on the rich young man who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. (Mark 10:17-29)

Then he sees Jesus pushing the man from seeing God as his boss (from the laws) to God as Savior, and he compels the man to imagine his own life without money. “All you have is me. Can you live like that?” (131). If you want God as savior, you have to get rid of your money as your savior. The issue is the man’s “moral worth” (132). “It’s our moral worth that keeps us from understanding the economy of the cross” (133). Which leads him to Mark 12, and the famous Jesus Creed passage on loving God and loving others.

The other day, I noticed the truck making a noise in the front end. It sounds like another wheel bearing. We were also told that by the owner of the  Suburban that we have been borrowing, they may be needing it back. It would be easy for us to panic over these things, but I’m looking for Christ in the situation. The money that we need isn’t the savior. The Savior may get us the money or some other resource  to help us. We have to be looking for Him and hope to see Him, just like when Lucy is looking for a place to cross the river, she is looking for Aslan to help them.

Of course, as the story goes along, Peter, Lucy’s older brother and high king, decides that they can’t wait for Aslan, and they put together an ill-fated attack on the Telmarines. How often do we do this? Instead of looking for Jesus and waiting for his appearance,  we take matters into our own hands. I often see this in teen relationships. I have seen both guys and girls looking for a relationship. Instead of looking for Jesus and waiting for his appearance to give Godly advice, or introducing them to who God would have them go with, they take matters into their own hands. I can attest to this in my own life while in college. I got into a relationship with a girl that I probably shouldn’t have. Mostly because I took matters into my own hands, instead of looking for him for guidance. I see teens doing this year after year.

I’ve  seen teens, get into jams all the time. They don’t look for Him. They only see the typical saviors, money, friends, and relationships. They see God as boss and not savior. Can you imagine your life without money or friends, relying only on Christ to get your through your circumstance? That’s not to say that you can’t accept money to help you through your circumstance, after all Jesus had people helping Him with His ministry providing support as he went from town to town. The idea is to look for Jesus and rely on him to provide.

I think many times we don’t look for Christ in the everyday, and over spiritualize things to such an extent that when He makes an appearance we don’t recognize Him. We just don’t look. Has a friend offered to give you money or advice (Godly advice), when you were going through something? Teens, if your parents know Christ, do you think that Jesus will make an appearance through them? Do you want Him to? If they don’t know Christ, where are you looking for Him to make an appearance?

When truth can be so distant
and hope evades our reach
Peter swam across the water
and found it on the beach – Five Iron Frenzy

Look for Him. He will be there.