In Moody, pastor and author Dan Schaeffer writes:
In a popular Christmas movie called Home Alone, a family plans a European vacation for Christmas. The relatives all arrive for the big event, but the younger son is feeling slighted. Easily ignored in all the last-minute details, he rebels and gets in trouble He's sent to a room in the attic. While there, in a tantrum, he wishes his family and everyone else would go away, so he could be all alone.
In a bizarre plot twist, the family overlooks the little boy in the attic, leaves for the airport, and gets on the plane, all the while believing he is with them. When the boy wakes in the morning, he discovers no one there, and believes his wish has been granted. He is delighted.
For the next few days, he lives alone, while his mother and family try frantically to return to him. At first the boy is delirious with joy, as he has full run of the house. He eats all the junk food he wants, watches whatever movie he wants, sleeps wherever he wants, and doesn't have to answer to anyone.
Then burglars try to break into the house, and he finds himself involved in simply keeping his home safe. After the burglars have been taken care of, he realizes he is now lonely and alone. It wasn't what he thought it would be, this life without his parents. He becomes sorry he had treated them so badly, and desperately wants them back again.
Schaeffer writes that this story is similar to how people relate to God. Often we resent God's authority and want our freedom. When we exercise our freedom, we may have fun for a while, but we end up with a life of fear and loneliness. Without God we are home alone.
Alienation, Emptiness, Fear, Freedom, Hell, Human Condition, Independence, Rebellion
Gen. 3
In a bizarre plot twist, the family overlooks the little boy in the attic, leaves for the airport, and gets on the plane, all the while believing he is with them. When the boy wakes in the morning, he discovers no one there, and believes his wish has been granted. He is delighted.
For the next few days, he lives alone, while his mother and family try frantically to return to him. At first the boy is delirious with joy, as he has full run of the house. He eats all the junk food he wants, watches whatever movie he wants, sleeps wherever he wants, and doesn't have to answer to anyone.
Then burglars try to break into the house, and he finds himself involved in simply keeping his home safe. After the burglars have been taken care of, he realizes he is now lonely and alone. It wasn't what he thought it would be, this life without his parents. He becomes sorry he had treated them so badly, and desperately wants them back again.
Schaeffer writes that this story is similar to how people relate to God. Often we resent God's authority and want our freedom. When we exercise our freedom, we may have fun for a while, but we end up with a life of fear and loneliness. Without God we are home alone.
Alienation, Emptiness, Fear, Freedom, Hell, Human Condition, Independence, Rebellion
Gen. 3