So I have been learning a lot about the sovereignty of God and how He wants the best for His children. Wherever we are in our lives right now is what is best for us, whether we see it or not. I read in Luke 11 yesterday "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you." (v. 9-10) Jesus goes on to say, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (v. 13) Jesus knows that when our children ask us for something, we are not going to give them something that will hurt them, like a poisonous snake. We will give them what they ask for, as long as it's for their good. Won't our heavenly Father do the same? And to a much greater degree! So this morning I prayed that there wouldn't be any children in the nursery so I could go to worship (seems like a horrible thing to ask for but I wanted to go to church). However, when I got there, I had two kids. I questioned God why He would take away worshipping Him to watch two girls. I got my answer. I read the girls Disney's Pinocchio and the Holy Spirit spoke to me. Here's what I learned:
Pinocchio represents all of us. We are born into this life but as sinful beings and not whole yet; Pinocchio was a wooden boy, not a real boy yet. When Geppetto sends Pinocchio off to school, Pinocchio is tempted, just as we are every day of our lives. He gives into this temptation and works for a puppeteer. He has fun dancing but at night is locked up. When we fall into sin, it is fun at first, but then we get caught in it. There are consequences to our sin and we are slaves to it.
During the night, the Blue Fairy comes to Pinocchio. She asks him what happened. The Blue Fairy can represent Jesus in our analogy, coming to us as we are stuck in our sin. He gently asks us what happened. Pinocchio lied. We try to make excuses for our sin. After Pinocchio tells the truth, the Blue Fairy sets him free. After we confess our sin to Jesus, we are forgiven and released from the bondage of sin.
Pinocchio goes out the next day and is tempted again and goes to Pleasure Island. There he enjoys everything he could ever want but soon he starts to turn into a donkey. The evil guys tempt boys so that when they are wrapped up in the pleasures of the island, they turn into donkeys and he enslaves them to work for him. We are tempted by the pleasures of this world. Soon, we started to look like the world and Satan makes us his slaves.
Once Pinocchio gets away from Pleasure Island (which we can only do with the saving grace of Jesus), he goes to save his father. It's then he displays love and unselfishness. The Blue Fairy makes him a real boy. When we discover what it really means to be a son of God and surrender our lives to Him (showing love and unselfishness), then we are transformed and born again.
And of course, Jiminy Cricket is supposed to represent our conscience. We can go further and say he represents the Holy Spirit.
Thank you Jesus for keeping me in the nursery today. I saw the gospel in a new light through a secular children's story.
In Christ,
Christine ><>
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