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There are lots of people who like what Jesus has to offer…but don’t like Jesus. For instance, they want salvation but find His teachings on the subject intolerable. But Jesus can’t be picked apart; He and His gifts are a package deal.
That’s the lesson a thirsting Jill Pole learned when a lion blocked her path to a life-saving stream.
In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, written by atheist-turned-believer C. S. Lewis, Jill Pole and her friend Eustace Scrubb were swept from their world into the magical land of Narnia. Within minutes of their arrival into the dangerous realm, they’re separated, and Jill thinks she has caused the death of her schoolmate.
After crying for so long that she becomes dehydrated, she finally goes in search of water. Fortunately for her, she finds a stream nearby. But that’s not all she finds. Listen to what C.S. Lewis says happens next:
Although the sight of water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn’t rush forward and drink. She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open. And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the lion.
It lay with its head raised and its two fore-paws out in front of it. She knew at once that it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away – as if it knew her quite well and didn’t think much of her.
“If I run away, it’ll be after me in a moment,” thought Jill. “And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth.” Anyway, she couldn’t have moved if she had tried, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it. How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours. And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first.
“If you’re thirsty, you may drink.”
For a second she stared here and there, wondering who had spoken.
Then the voice said again, “If you are thirsty, come and drink,” and she realized that it was the lion speaking. She had seen its lips move this time, and the voice was not like a man’s. It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice. It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her frightened in a rather different way.
“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.
“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.
“Then drink,” said the Lion.
“May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
“Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.
“I make no promise,” said the Lion.
“Do you eat girls?” she said.
“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.
“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.
“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”
“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.
Jill is identical to so many others; she liked the offer of the water, but not the lion who offered it to her. (By the way, the lion was none other than Aslan the King, the character that C. S. Lewis always used to symbolize the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ.)
Many people make the same mistake today that Jill made. In our search for eternal life, we discover what we’re looking for, but do not like the One who offers it to us. Sadly, many people go in search of “another” source of eternal life, but there is none. The only salvation in life is that which Jesus offers. In John 14:6, Jesus makes that crystal clear:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Resource’s Origin:
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. HarperCollins, 1953, Pages 19-21.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Animals
C. S. Lewis
Choices
Eternal Life
Fear
Gifts
God’s Power
Jesus’ Teaching
Mistake
Salvation
Savior
Thirst
Water
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
