| When Russell Moore overheard one of his sons reading aloud from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, he stopped to listen. He stayed out of view, enjoying his son’s narration, until the boy quickly read a certain line.
“Stop there,” Moore said, revealing himself to his son. “Read it again. It’s the most important sentence in the book.
The sentence Moore called out occurs when Aslan, the ruler of Narnia, brings the traitorous Edmund back to his siblings. Edmund is embarrassed and defeated, surely afraid of what his brother and sisters will say to him about his behavior. But Aslan changes the game with these powerful words: “Here is your brother, and—there is no need to talk to him about what is past.”
Aslan’s words point to the love of a God who does not define us by our sins but invites us into confession and connection. When we struggle to go to him in prayer, or when we are wary to welcome a formerly wandering believer back into the fold, may we remember that God is not ashamed to call us his own. |
