Chapter 13: The Three Sleepers

Aslan sets a lavished table every day for a great feast. It is there for the eating for any who would like to have it.

The three Narnian Lords came and sat at this table. But they didn't eat, instead they began to argue and fight among themselves. They touched the only object on the table humans were not meant to touch (the stone knife) and so fell into a deep sleep. Now they can do nothing but sleep until the curse is broken.

The crew of the Dawn Treader comes, but seeing the three sleepers makes them afraid to eat the food.

How familiar this story is...

The Lord God sets a lavish table for us. The world is filled with wonderful foods, exotic places, the joy of friends, and fun, and even sexual love with a spouse of our choosing.

But we come to Aslan's table and immediately begin fighting amongst ourselves. We turn all the food into some corn derrivative, add cancer-feeding chemicals, and enough sugar to send a hummingbird into insulin shock. Into the exotic places we spew toxic fumes, dig pits and fill them with crude oil, and pile up mountains of trash. We trade fun for cheap thrills, past-times for obsessions, and sex for disgusting displays that leave us feeling dirty at best and bored at worse.

Now when people look on what we've done with the world, it makes them suspicious of God. "What sort of God?" they ask, "Would set a table like this?" Until the curse is broken, no one can do anything but sleep through God's lavish feast.

There is indeed a curse upon our creation, but it is Jesus who has broken the curse and made a way into Aslan's country. Each time someone decides to pursue that kingdom, they and those they are closests to begin to wake up.

When my friend decides to go to Africa to heal women of diseases, I too realize that this is more important than my own desire to give my teeth an expensive bleaching. I want to pursue THAT kingdom instead!

When a member of my family prayers five times a day, I too realize that this more important than my own desire to follow my favorite TV show on Netflix. I want to pursue prayer instead!

When my family watches A Christmas Carol:

• My daughter (8) says, "The most important thing to Scrooge is money."
• My son (6) says, "The most important thing to me is God."

...I can only sit on the sofa and cry tears of happiness. My children are not asleep at the table of God. They are awake, and they will have the feast he has made for them.