“The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” (Deuteronomy 30:14) These are the words of Moses as he prpares the Hebrew people to enter an entirely new life in the Promised Land. He continues to outline the blessings that await their obedience, and the curses of disobedience. The people receive every blessing for at least a whole generation, but succumb to the behavior of surrounding nations in subsequent generations, calling forth the curses.

I have heard it said that it was “only natural “ for the Hebrew people to pick up the sins of surrounding nations, for the Hebrews were new to the agricultural life of owning property and simply copied their neighbors who held festivals and prayed to many gods of fertility and harvest. It was “only natural” for them to accept this “help”.

In his book The Silver Chair, part of the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis presented a scene of four loyal Narnians who were faced with a witch who had gone very far toward overtaking Narnia and enslaving its people. The witch employed magic to hypnotize the Narnians,and three of them had succumbed when the Narnian Marshwiggle (a human like creature accompanying the three young people on a quest to find one of them, a lost prince.),took a decisive and dramatic action by stamping out a mesmerizing fire with his bare foot. His action cleared the air and emptied it of the magic of the witch. She had attempted to convince the children that there was no other reality than her own kingdom; no supernatural life but hers, and that their memories of Aslan, the Christ-like figure in the story, were all false. All four young characters knew and loved Aslan, but only one, the Marshwiggle, had internalized the spirit of Aslan to be able to take action on his own belief, and willingly burn his foot in the process.

Puddleglum the Marshwiggle, said, “I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can, even if there isn’t any Narnia.” At this the witch resumed her original shape as a serpent, and a battle ensued in which she was destroyed.

Moses told God’s people that they had only to look within and remember that God’s presence had been with them for forty years. He urged them to internalize their memories and their history with God. For the few who did just that, who resisted what was “only natural,” the ultimate reward was entrance into a supernatural world of eternal life. To be “only natural” is never enough. God calls us to be like Himself.

Love in Him,

Prue