I love this quote is my favorite from Prince Caspian, a C.S. Lewis book.
Lucy: “Aslan, you’re bigger.”
Aslan: “That is because you are older, little one.”
Lucy: “Not because you are?”
Aslan: “I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”
Aslan is a lion and a Christ-figure in a series of C.S. Lewis’ writings. What a wonderful demonstration of the Christian life. Jesus could never be any bigger than He is right now. As believers, we start out with a miniscule knowledge of Him and His nature. Lucy was confused because it appeared that Aslan had grown since the last time she saw him. The truth was that she had grown. As she grew, she found him to be bigger. She began to recognize traits that she didn’t recognize before. She began to realize new features that she neglected to notice before.
I glorify God that every year I grow in Christ that I find him bigger in my life. I begin to see (and as a result exhibit) traits that I never recognized before. There are new features that Jesus reveals to me the older and more mature I get. My spiritual perception gets more keen. My view of Christ has changed over the past decade. God willing, it will continue to change as I recognize things about Him (through study and fellowship with Him) that I never knew existed. I’m just grateful for His progressive revelation and for His presence in my life as I continue to find Him bigger. What about you?
Four things that might hinder you from finding Him bigger:
1. Lack of Prayer
As as married man, I can attest to the fact that no relationship grows without continual communication. Prayer is the means for this dialogue with God.
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. Lack of Faith
Faith shows up about 278 times in the English Standard Version of the Bible. It hardly shows up in the life of those who haven’t found Jesus bigger.
“Faith is taking th first step without seeing the whole staircase.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. Lack of Wisdom
In the Information Age you’d think that people would be hungry for knowledge or wisdom. The converse seems true. There’s so much vying for our attention these days that it’s hard to sort through the clutter. Someone who has found a bigger Jesus is able to do this.
“Science gives knowledge which is power. Religion gives man wisdom which is control.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
4. Lack of Perseverance
One of the sure-fire ways to determine if someone is truly your friend is whether they walk through the fire with you. Mature believers put on their walking shoes, knowing that there’s someone else in the fire with them.
“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Determine that there is lack in any one of those areas and you find out there is still room to grow. In 2013, keep growing my brother and sister.
