Remember Who You Are

SIMBA:

So many things to tell her,

But how to make her see?

The truth about my past--impossible!

She'd turn away from me...

NALA:

He's holding back, he's hiding

But what I can't decide

Why won't he be the king I know he is?

The king I see inside

     If you skipped over those lyrics, go back.  Read them.  Simba has something to teach us about ourselves--who knew?!
     Read them?  Okay good.  Then listen up...

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!

     Simba, born to be king.  A lion, born to be courageous--a fighter.  And yet what does he do when circumstances scream death?  He flees.  Why?  Scar, his secret and deceptive enemy, convinces him that he does not belong.  He convinces him that the world would be better off if he were not in it.  He makes him forget his identity--as king.

     Why am I telling you this?  Because we also have an Enemy, and he, too, is cunning, deceptive, and wants to take over the throne--of your life, of mine, and of this world.  And in so many ways we have let him.  We have let the Enemy chase us off into Hakuna-Matata Land and convince us that eating bugs is a delicacy!  Living in our own little universes, blind to the battle being waged around us, we keep looking for pleasure after pleasure to satisfy our roaring appetites.  Vine swinging from dating relationship to dating relationship, grub-gorging in chips bag after chips bag, thrill seeking in vacation after vacation.  Not that these are always bad things, but at the expense of what?  Is there something we are missing?  Where are we being called to FIGHT?

     We have an Enemy.  1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."  How does he do this?  Discouragement, complacency, laziness, shame, insecurity, fear.  Shall I go on?  Our enemy is always a LYIN' (get it?! lion---lyin...).  He wants to kick us out of his territory and lull us into sleepy-living, because he knows the Lion KING is on our side.  The lion of the tribe of Judah.  Our Lord Jesus, who when we believe in him, has given us his spirit.  He has given us what we need to fight.

     And I'll tell you where I am called to fight: remembering who I am.  Not so far off from our furry friend, is it?  First step for Simba to return to his homeland and claim what is rightfully his: remembering who he is.  And who is he?  His father's son.  Who is his father?  King.  And guess what?  So is mine.  So is yours.  But how often do we let the fear of our past grip us--convincing us that we are just a sham, a coward, a nobody?  This is an attack of the Enemy--who doesn't want us to come back and live into the victory of the TRUE king!  The victory the Lord Jesus has already won for us in his death and resurrection.

     My brothers and sisters, this is a call to battle.  This is Nala calling out the Simbas.  You aren't dead, you are alive.  SO LIVE.  Look to Christ.  Find your confidence in him.  Stop letting the Enemy lure you away and convince you that the darkness of the Shadowlands means that it is time to go to sleep.  NO!  Instead of fear, put your confidence in Him.  "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me" (Ps 23:4).  Instead of insecurity, remember whose say matters.  "If God is for us, who can be against us" (Rom 8:31)!  Instead of surrendering to your weakness, find your strength in Him.  "Be strong in the Lord and in his might" (Eph 6:10)!  Have your weapons at the ready--cling to the Word of God!

     And now I'll go back to the song that began all this: Can you feel the love tonight? Nala's love for Simba reminded him of who he was and brought him back to where he was meant to be.  How much more, then, should the love of Christ woo us and bring us into the life he died for us to have?  Can you feel the love tonight?  If you can't, look to Jesus.  Look to the cross.  Look to the empty tomb.  That's love.  And so, by the strength of his power, let's go fight.  Remembering who we are, let's go love.

(My ladies bible study group is currently going through "The Armor of God" by Priscilla Shirer.  If you Ladies in particular want to dig deeper, I highly recommend doing this study!)