By Ashton Harat — March 29, 2021
The other day, I was getting in the car to take a drive, and I put on a pair of new sunglasses. I had never worn these before—they were a gift. The effect was pretty cool, and it made my surroundings more bluish than they actually were on a very sunny day.
It struck me as I looked, intrigued, at the world around me through these glasses, that the wonder of this new pair would fade away quickly. In mere minutes, the effect was unnoticeable. I had become used to them, and I had no more wonder and awe at the marvelous effect. When I spoke to a few people I know in my life who wear glasses, I found that they were amazed and in awe when they first got their specs. But the wonder of it was rapidly lost as they quickly took their newfound sight for granted.
As I pondered this, I realized something else. As it is with sunglasses, so it is with salvation. When we are first saved, what great joy and wonder we have at the great gift we have received! But as time goes on, our wonder tends to obey the second law of thermodynamics (i.e. “All things have a tendency to run down, to run toward disorder, toward less energy, toward less organization, toward less quantity”), and we begin to take our salvation for granted. Of course, none of us mean to—it’s a natural tendency.
The story of Ed Dunlop’s great series, The Terrestria Chronicles, follows a young slave-turned-prince named Josiah who is redeemed by the great King Emmanuel. In the first book, the King rescued him from the clutches of slavery by Argamor (i.e. Satan), and then sent him to live a new life in the Castle of Faith. Naturally, the great gift he was given filled Josiah with gratitude and wonder. He met another prince—a young man named Thomas—who was rude, stuck-up, braggadocious, assaultive, and all-around annoying. Josiah asked Sir Faithful—the castle steward and his personal mentor—just what makes Thomas so… difficult. Sir Faithful explained to him that Thomas was once full of wonder and joy like Josiah. Thomas was thankful to have been rescued from his chains and enslavement, and grateful to be a prince. But over time, he began to think he deserved to be royalty. He forgot he was once a wretched slave. He forgot what the king had done for him, and he lost his awe for being justified.
Sadly, this a natural tendency—and a common one too. But as Paul said, “Brethren, this ought not be so!” God has set us free from our old man and our naturally operating flesh to “put on the new man,” and live in supernatural peace and victory.
I live in constant wonder for the beauty of creation. And I love to see changes and variations in light, including what would happen with a pair of sunglasses. In fact, though that first time I put the pair on was the most amazing, every other time I don them after that first experience, I have a slight amount of wonder at the change. In the same way, we will often have moments when we are moved to stand in awe of our salvation, and praise the Lord because of it. But these are few—and far between.
When we lose the wonder of our salvation, we tend to lose our zeal for the Lord. An evangelist who has come to my church a few times once asked me at the end of a 5-day revival, “You gonna stay on fire for Jesus?” That, indeed, is the question. Are we going to stay on fire for the Lord? Then we must not grow complacent towards the great sacrifice He’s given. The wonder of sunglasses is incomparable to what Christ has done for us, and we should praise Him for it every day. I think that’s why the early church celebrated Communion so often. To keep us constantly mindful of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.
Another instance in the world of Terrestria that sheds light on this subject would be the village of Indifference. The people of this village let their houses fall into disorder. They slept till all hours of the morning. They hadn’t finished building the wall around their town. They were lazy and ill-tempered. They wasted their time in frivolous pursuits, such as racing paper boats, which is the chief occupation in the city. And they completely ignored the repeated warnings of a rockslide. What is the deal with these folks? Once again, Sir Faithful explains. All of the people were redeemed children of King Emmanuel, but they had lost the wonder of salvation, and no longer desired to serve Him. Telling story, isn’t it? Let us beware.
As we move into the warm seasons of the year, we will most likely be using sunglasses with increasing frequency. The next time you put a pair on, thank the Lord that He has rescued you from the chains and shackles of sin and guilt. Let us never forget what He’s done for us.
If you do not know this freedom that Christ offers, then call to Him. He eagerly awaits to hear you ask Him: “Cleanse my heart and set me free—free from guilt, and free from sin. Free from guilt, and free from sin.”