Harry Potter, Bella, Edward, and Jesus

   

     I must admit we were fans of Harry Potter when the movies first began arriving as box office hits. The basic plot of good versus evil, and the magic of believing in ourselves created a warm fuzzy feeling that I could conquer the challenges in my life. In the very least, it was a fun escape from reality.

     In the meantime, the craze of The Twilight Series that surrounded the characters Bella, Edward, and Jacob have raked in millions and created a huge following of teens and adults alike. Bella was a normal, average girl in love with a vampire, while Jacob, a shape shifting wolf was in love with her. Again the plot revolved around love conquering evil and how it can survive if we believe in ourselves.

     I love a good movie as much as the next chick but I can't help but question why these movies are such big hits, instead of Jesus. Don't get me wrong, Jesus isn't some imaginary hero with a wand or fangs, but He possesses the very thing many of us are searching for. Jesus had and still has the power to change a life. He has the power to demolish strongholds, restore broken hearts, and war against the darkness that is lurking outside our front doors. He walked the earth, healing boils, lesions, raising the dead, restoring relationships and encouraging us all to look beyond ourselves to His father. 

     So why then are we still so interested in putting imaginary characters on a pedestal instead of believing in someone who is real, who has real power? From a mother's perspective, I think because He isn't presented as tangible for our children to see. The work of looking beyond what our view is sometimes just too much work and we are so used to deferring to imaginary characters to escape reality. 

    This world isn't as real as we think. It's a bus stop into our eternal lives where God has a huge kingdom with happenings, beyond our wildest dreams. Living right now was meant for us to prepare for what God has planned for us tomorrow. And the plot thickens as we choose each day to believe in the power of God working through us or not. 
     Do you believe in the power of God? Does it give you chills to know His power works through our weaknesses? I don't know about you, but I'd much rather dream in the reality of my day to day ordinary life, knowing God is doing something big. It's better than escaping into box office hits where a wand is just a wand...

Jeremiah 10:12

It is he who made the earth by his power,

who established the world by his wisdom,

and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.