Are You Ready To Drink?

This was one of my favorite blogs along with one of my most viewed.

(Jill enters into Narnia and finds herself all alone and very thirsty. She come to discover a stream but is troubled to see that there is a lion next to the stream that has spotted her.)

“Are you not thirsty?” said the lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the lion

“May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

“Will you promise not to – do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion – no one who had seen his stern face could do that – and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn’t need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once. Before she tasted it she had been intending to make a dash away from the Lion the moment she had finished. Now, she realized that this would be on the whole the most dangerous thing of all. She got up and stood there with her lips still wet from drinking.

• The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis writing is so simple as a child’s story but it still holds one of the greatest challenges. Are you ready to drink from the stream? This is a very serious question which the answer will change you life forever one way or another. We are all dying of thirst and there is only one way to fix that problem – to drink. But as Jill found out there is only one stream and there is a Lion that watches over it. Dying of thirst we all want to drink from the stream but we are fearful of the Lion. Like Jill, we make request of the Lion, “Will you go away while I drink?” or “Do you promise not to do anything to me?” The Lion is not there to make deals or agreements. He offers the source of life on His terms – take it or leave it. It is a scary thing to think about, it should be. The Lion is not one to be fooled with. Jill realizes this after drinking she planned to running but, “noticed that this would be on the whole the most dangerous thing of all.” You are not allowed to test the water first. It is all or nothing. There is no promise of your personal safety. The only promise that is given is LIFE.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Ps. 34.8

Christ has already paid the price for your life. All He is asking you to do now is live it.