"The gweat kings of da past up dere, watch ovuh us."
If you mention The Lion King around Nathan, that is usually his reply. Dramatic wave of the arm, eyes lifted up, the whole nine yards. Yes, my nearly-3-year-old may have been watching a little too much TV lately.
I don't know if this is the reason that I have lions on the brain or not...
In fact, lions are a refreshing change from the huge focal points of my recent thought life: the geneaology of Jesus and Prairie Home Companion. Yeah, I know. "Work" related stuff. More on those another time...
In spite of all the dissimilar subject matter rattling my tiny brain I managed to make a connection about Jesus and Satan through the lions. (Get it? Yeah, I know, that was terrible.)
One of the descriptions of Jesus is as the Lion of Judah. When I hear this I always picture a stately, strong lion, protective yet kind, able to attack when necessary yet would prefer not to. Okay, maybe I'm at least slightly influenced by Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia, but I don't believe that is unintentional. CS Lewis wrote the character with that in mind.
The comparison to the Enemy comes from 1 Peter 5:8, Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. For some reason I picked up on the word LIKE in this passage.
Satan is not a lion. He pretends to be one. He is a poser. A fake. He thinks he's all that and is trying to get us to buy into his lie. But the "lion who lies down with the lamb" he most decidedly is not.
And, yes, it is true that the Enemy is intent on doing everything he can to draw us away from Jesus, and he does want to devour our hearts. But, in the end, the poser lion is no match for The Lion of Judah, just as Scar is no match for the grown Simba.
I guess the song, "He Lives In You" from Lion King 2 is truer than they know.
What a beautiful post! I love this thought. I have always struggled with God as a father figure, becasue my own father wasn't much of a figure to desire at all. So I really like this lion idea... strong, protective, but gentle enough to hold his cubs between his mighty paws... lovely. I'll keep this tucked away in my heart for a long, long time! Thank you so very much!
ReplyDeleteI love the Lion King and Narnia for exactly those reasons. I find great comfort in the majesty of the lion. Your words are thought provoking and inspiring- it was way fun to see you in your skit!!
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