Rescued from Harry Potter - FAMILY PLUS Children's

I have a confession to make... during this week of snow I fell in love. I found myself emotionally attached to a story. It didn’t happen on purpose. I promise it didn’t. It was a story that consumed my mind. It was a story that grabbed my heart. It was a story that I had dreams about. It was a story that spoke of a heroin who found love and gave love. The heroin gave his life willingly for the love of others. I bet you’re thinking, “Oh, Jared had a renewing time with God during this crazy week of snow and ice.” That would be completely wrong. The truth is I watched all 8 Harry Potter movies. 

I know, I know. I’m behind the times. Those things came out ages ago. I had just not seen all of them, and it happened to be a great time to catch up. I enjoyed the story line. It was well-written and even inspiring at times. But this email isn’t about a movie review; it’s about a movie neglect. Movie neglect, as defined by me, is the neglect of areas of your life because you are caught up in a movie or other forms of entertainment. It’s basically the realization of what “binge watching” can do to you. 

At its foundation it seems harmless. I had a week of snow and ice, which meant a ton of extra down time. I chose to fill that down time that I don’t normally have with a lot of movies. Here is the problem that I found. At the end, it wasn’t satisfying. I was frustrated. In fact, I found myself so convicted. I was more involved with the Harry Potter storyline, a great fictional story, than I was with my faith. The problem for me was the story had no bearing on my soul. It had no meaning outside of entertainment for me. I know that some people have written about some of the similarities in the Harry Potter story line and the story line of Scripture, yet it’s still fictional. My faith is nonfictional. 

At the end of the day it wasn’t satisfying because I didn’t feed my soul. I fed my eyes. I didn’t take the time to listen to God. I listened to screenwriters. I didn’t consider His words in my mind. I considered fictional characters. I didn’t wonder about His wonders. I wondered what was going to happen next. Following God is about more than completing a few tasks like praying occasionally or going to church a couple times a month. Following God, for me, is consuming. It’s all or nothing. This week I gave Him nothing, for that I repent, ask forgiveness, and stand up to say, “Yes!” to the next way I can be closer to the one who rescued me to a life of purpose and meaning.

The Bible on Strengthening Your Faith

“I’m old and you’re barren.” I’m pretty sure that’s what Abraham told Sarah when they were talking about God’s promise to build a nation from their offspring. Abraham was almost 100 years old when the promise came. Sarah had yet to become pregnant with any child for their family. That is a burden in and of itself. 

Katie and I were talking with Carter, our oldest, about this very same story. We had just read it in his preschool Bible and wanted to make sure he understood that Abraham is a central figure in Scripture. I watched as Katie explained that God had made a promise to Abraham that was near-impossible to believe.  God promised a nation to come from an old man’s not-yet-offspring. A couple days later I was reading through the book of Romans when I came across the most helpful phrase to me. Paul is talking about Abraham and Sarah when he states, “…but he [Abraham] grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God…” (Rom 4:20).

I love this and it has become my anthem recently. Giving glory to God (he deserves it all anyway) produces strength in my faith. In other words, as time passed, Abraham continued to trust that God’s promises are true. He did not waiver. He believed in the promise. 

Then Paul does something great in the passage. He reminds us of a greater promise.  One that is near-impossible for many to believe. This promise is the promise of life through Jesus’ death (Rom 4:24-25). As parents, we have to start here. We have to be giving glory to God for this truth, and if we do, our faith will be strengthened. Then we will start seeing things like this happen: Our minds will start thinking about Him first. Our hearts will be able to turn from sin. Our eyes will start longing to see the pages of Scripture. Then our kids will start noticing that kind of faith. Our kids will start wanting that kind of faith. Promises will be fulfilled.