James 4:8, Jeremiah 33:3

David Hellyer reflects on the need to build a personal relationship with God and not rely on someone elses

David Hellyer

Have you ever been on holiday and seen something that you just can't describe? Did you ever watch a movie or go to a concert and tell your friends, "You just had to be there", or, "You'll just have to watch it for yourself"?

I went on a family holiday to the south of Denmark and I was delighted to be able to take my 20 month old son. He was at a great age where he was toddling around everywhere and grappling with all sorts of new words or sounds every day. This can be really amusing at times and undoubtedly very cute!

We were staying near a small town called Christiansfeld, which had a fascinating little museum. The Christiansfeld museum is like a curiosity shop; it was full of items that the Moravian missionaries had brought home from the many and varied places they had visited. The curator informed us that many of the items the Moravian missionaries brought home were actually put on sale in order to provide money for their next mission trip; those that made it to the museum were a collection of the finest items.

We were the only people in the museum while we visited, (the whole of Christiansfeld only has a population of 3,000), and so there wasn't a lot of competition to get close to the exhibits. My son was confidently walking from room to room shouting out all the items he recognized. He was with my wife a couple of rooms ahead of me when all of a sudden he got really excited and let out his best lion roar. He stood there for a couple of moments in the doorway transfixed by what he had just seen. This was only interrupted by his loudest attempts at a lion's roar I had ever heard. I hurried down the corridor to see what had sparked this reaction in him.

What I saw did not quite meet the build up my son had so enthusiastically given it. It was a 100 year old full size taxidermy lion. My son loves animals and just couldn't contain his joy at seeing a 'real' one. Except it wasn't a real lion it was just a taxidermy one - and a badly executed taxidermy one at that! What seems to have happened is 100 years ago the Moravian missionaries were out on mission and saw this powerful and impressive beast and thought it would be great to show the folks back at home. However, maybe because cameras were expensive or sitting to paint such a beast was too risky, they killed it to bring it home and show off. The local taxidermist in Denmark however had clearly never seen a lion before, and whilst the basic shape of it was right, his head was swollen up like a balloon! The skull had been removed and placed on display next to the finished article but it would have been more use inside as it seems that the taxidermist kept stuffing the beast until it was full. The poor lion ended up with a balloon for a head without any definition - not a look that says 'king of the beasts' at all!

The point is my son at 20 months had only ever seen Playmobil or Lego lions, so to him this thing seemed great. But to anyone who has seen a real lion in a zoo or on safari this taxidermy monstrosity was not very impressive at all.

In our life as Christians we need to ensure we go that extra mile to go and see a real lion. Don't be content to see a poor taxidermy interpretation of a lion like my son was. Don't settle for your youth leaders impression of God, or your pastors own personal revelation of Jesus - get stuck in yourself!

In the book of James 4:8 it says, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you" and in Jeremiah 33:3 it says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know".

Go on a lion hunt today and don't settle for anything less than the real thing.