Of Mice & Marshwiggles – Day 9 – Call

To Read: 

Setting the Scene:   Aslan explains Jill’s task to her. 

‘And now hear your task. Far from here in the land of Narnia there lives an aged king who is sad because he has no prince of his blood to be king after him. He has no heir because his only son was stolen from him many years ago, and no one in Narnia knows where that prince went or whether he is still alive. But he is. I lay on you this command, that you seek this lost prince until either you have found him and brought him to his father’s house, or else died in the attempt, or else gone back into your own world.’

‘How, please?’ said Jill.

‘I will tell you, Child,’ said the Lion. ‘These are the signs by which I will guide you in yourquest. First; as soon as the Boy Eustace sets foot in Narnia, he will meet an old and dear friend. He must greet that friend at once; if he does, you will both have good help. Second; you must journey out of Narnia to the north till you come to the ruined city of the ancient giants. Third; you shall find a writing on a stone in that ruined city, and you must do what the writing tells you. Fourth; you will know the lost prince (if you find him) by this, that he will be the first person you have met in your travels who will ask you to do something in my name, in the name of Aslan.’

…..’Child,’ said Aslan, in a gentler voice than he had yet used, ‘perhaps you do not see quite as well as you think. But the first step is to remember. Repeat to me, in order, the four signs.’

The Silver Chair – Chapter 2 – Jill is Given a Task (© C.S. Lewis)

To Reflect:

I am quite good at remembering things; especially trivia, a useful skill to have on Thursday pub quiz nights – our team did very well last night! The more important things that should set the course of my life I do not, however, always easily call to mind. Perhaps this is why I like Jill Pole so much. She too has difficulty remembering the signs Aslan taught her – though somehow she manages to win through in the end.

Remembering is one of the key characteristics of our walk with God. The word ‘remember’ occurs 230 times in the Bible and it is used from the Torah’s call on us to keep the Ten Commandments to the Psalmist telling the Children of Israel to remember the mighty deeds of God; from the command of Jesus at the Last Supper to the plaintive words of the penitent thief at Calvary.

Remembering is important. It brings us closer to God and is the first part of any task we are given. As we remember the call we are enabled to fulfil the task. There comes a time in most of our service for the Lord when the road is hard and difficult and it is tempting to give up on the journey or tell ourselves that we have misheard the call and so we turn to follow a path other than the one we should be travelling. If we do not remember we are in danger of being forgotten. For this reason it is important that we have moments of remembering.

When I worked in the church in South Africa the first words on every license I was given to minister were ‘We will pray for you’. These were words I treasured, especially when the journey was hard and following the call was difficult. They meant that someone had promised to remember me and, even if I was not in the right place every day, there was someone, most often a bishop, praying that I would be.

Who needs you to remember them to help them complete the task to which God is calling them?

 

 

To Pray:

For all the saints

         who went before us

who have spoken to our hearts

and touched us with your fire,

we praise you, O God.

 

For all the saints

         who live beside us

         whose weaknesses and strengths

         are woven with our own,

         we praise you, O God.

 

For all the saints

         who live beyond us

         who challenge us

         to change the world with them,

         we praise you, O God.

Janet Morley

in ‘The Book of a Thousand Prayers’ © Angela Ashwin – Compiler

  

To Do:

Pray for those you know who seem to have lost their way in completing the task God has given them.

Encourage one person, by letter, postcard, phone call or an email, to continue obeying the call of God and remind them that you will be praying for them.

 

 

© Andrew Dotchin 2018