Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

          This movie was so much fun!  Zac Efron stars as the voice of Ted, a young resident of the tree-free, industrialized city of Thneedville where they buy bottled air.  Ted wants to impress his friend Audrey (Taylor Swift) and for that he'll need to find a tree.  So Ted goes to the Once-ler (who sports the dramatic and entertaining voice of Ed Helms). 

          The Once-ler regails Ted with the story of his wonderful invention, the thneed.  The thneed was an all-purpose piece of clothing made from trees and was once the must-have fashion item.          
        The Lorax who speaks for the trees (Danny Devito) is a cute and fuzzy little creature with a mustache and an attitude. He warns the Once-ler not to harm the trees or something bad will happen.  But when the Once-ler foolishly decides to chop down trees instead of harvesting only the part he needs, he uses every tree in the forest and is left with nothing. 

    After all the trees are gone, the Lorax sends the animals away and leaves the Once-ler alone in the gray, barren forest with only the tree stumps and a special stone.  The stone has a word carved on it: Unless. 

          When the Once-ler finishes his story, he gives Ted the last seed.  He tells Ted to plant it where everyone in Thneedville can see so that they will know the importance of trees and free air.
               

        We may not have thneeds, bottled air or the Lorax but our world is a lot like Ted's.  Like the forest that was once beautiful, our world was once very good:

"Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!"

 Genesis 1:31 NLT



          Like the Once-ler, we got a warning:

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.' " Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV

 

          We didn't obey and something bad happened:

"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23a NKJV

 

          And we have an Unless:

"...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23b NKJV



                  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 NKJV 

 

Christ lived the perfect life we never could and died in our place, as our substitute, taking the punishment from God that we all deserve for the wrong we do.  Now we can be forgiven and go to Heaven someday if we accept this gift.

 

And we have a seed to plant by telling everyone we can so that everyone can see the importance of Jesus and free eternal life!





Once Upon A Time: Remember Who You Are

          ABC’s Once Upon A Time is one of my favorite new shows, along with Fox’s Terra Nova.  Once Upon A Time is a gorgeous fairytale drama with sweeping cinematography, engaging storylines and acting so real it gives me goose bumps.  It’s highly original plot sets this show apart from previous fairytale endeavors and other sci-fi/fantasy hits. 

          In this reimagining, the Evil Queen from the classic story of Snow White has placed a curse on the entire realm of fairytale characters.  In an attempt at revenge on Snow White and her Charming husband, the enchantress has banished them, along with others from their world, to a life with “no happy endings” in our world.  They find themselves in uneventful Storybrooke, Maine.  They live ordinary lives and have no memory of who they used to be.  Snow White is a schoolteacher.  Rumplestiltskin is a pawn broker.  And the Evil Queen has positioned herself as mayor of Storybrooke. 

There’s only one person who can come to Storybrooke and break the curse.  Emma Swan.  The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming.  At the time of the curse, she was an infant.  Now she’s a gritty, disillusioned bounty hunter, unencumbered by things like personal attachments or optimism.  But when the son she gave up for adoption shows up at her door, her life changes. 
Henry knows all about the curse, thanks to a special book of fairytales.  He believes that Emma is Storybrooke’s savior, the only one who can make everyone remember who they are and put things back the way they were.

What a wonderful, rich story.  It reminds me of a wonderful, rich truth.  The truth of the Bible.  The truth about us.  Just like the fairytale characters in Storybrooke, all of humankind is under a curse.  We live in a world we weren’t meant for.  We have forgotten where we come from and who we are meant to be. 

This is what the Bible is about.  In the beginning, everything was perfect just how God created it.  The first people, Adam and Eve, were a perfect couple, living in a perfect garden, in a perfect world, friends with God.  There was no suffering or death.  Only happiness, harmony and love.  It sounds like a fairytale.  But this is the truth.

And then something happened.  Adam and Eve turned away from God; disobeyed Him.  This is when earth fell under the curse.  As the owner of everything, God cursed the world because of Adam and Eve.  They were no longer going to live forever and now life would be difficult.  Now that they knew how to disobey God, they would sometimes be angry, bitter and selfish.  They would argue and hurt each other. 

God’s punishment for sin is death and after death- separation from Him.  Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death…”

          Today, we are still under the curse.  We all sin. (Romans 3:23)  And we have forgotten what the world used to be, what we are supposed to be.  But God is not like the Evil Queen, He didn’t place us under this curse out of spite or for revenge.  It is more like a reset plan.  A way to get the world back to that perfection.   
          The Bible says in Romans 8:20-21 that “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”
          He sent us a Savior.  His Son, Jesus Christ.  Born as a human, Christ lived the sinless life that no human ever could.  Then He let Himself be killed, at the same time taking the punishment for all of humanity’s sin on Himself.  Then He rose from the dead, victorious over sin.  He is the cure for the curse that we brought on ourselves.  "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

All we have to do is accept this; truly believe we are under the curse of our own sin and ask God for the cure- the Savior.  Then we can live the life we were meant to live.  Life based on His unconditional love and His promise of Heaven.

Listen to Colossians 3:2-4: “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.”

Did you hear that?  When you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, your real life is with Him.  Don’t let this world get you down.  It’s easy to worry and hurry and let discontent run rampant.  I have this problem big time!  But like the verse says, don’t focus on the things of this world, focus on your real life.  Don’t live in the curse!  Live the life you were meant to live, look forward to your real home in heaven.  Remember who you are! 

   Song Recommendation:  Remind Me Who I Am – Jason Gray (written from the perspective of someone who has accepted Jesus as their Savior)