(By Anwar Smith) – For the most part I really dislike scary movies. I have problems with the senseless violence and completely unrealistic plot and characters. Of all the scary movies out there, and I must confess I have only seen a few, the ones that I have found to be the scariest are the Jaws movies. Many of you reading this may not have been around in the 80’s so to catch you up on the storyline; there is a very large shark in the ocean off the Coast of Amity
Here is what makes the movie so interesting. This Great White Shark looms in the murky, ocean water. You never know when it’s going to strike until you hear the classic, someone’s about to get eaten, music. This music starts off slow and then it gets faster and faster as you realize that the person that is just having an enjoyable time swimming has no idea what’s about to happen until . . . So many times, I find myself yelling at the people through my television screen:
“Look out, don’t go swim there by yourself!”
“Behind you, it’s coming behind you!”
“Don’t try to swim for shore, you’ll never make it!”
No matter how hard I scream, the characters never hear me and they succumb to the same fate every time I watch the movie; someone or some group of young people go off by themselves, and there the giant shark lies and wait. It’s really quite sad but for some reason wildly entertaining.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but often times many of us are living lives very similar to scary movies. We connect with people we shouldn’t connect with; we go places we know we shouldn’t go, we do things we know we shouldn’t do. All the while, I could imagine God in Heaven looking at us and screaming just as I have done many times before in front of my TV screen:
“Look out, don’t go in there, it’s not safe!”
“Don’t play that music, it’s a trap, it’ll harden your heart!”
“I didn’t design you for that purpose, don’t do that, it’ll hurt you in the long run!”
“Run away, just run away, now!”
When God is screaming into the scary movie that you are living each and every day, do your hear him? Jaws, the Great White Shark, is fake, he was simply a figment of someone’s imagination created through animatronics and other special effects. You, on the other hand, are real flesh in blood, soul and spirit. Do you know the voice of God as he calls out to you? Though I am no longer speaking of a scary movie created in Hollywood, there is still an enemy out there seeking to devour you (John 10:10). The enemy is lurking about just waiting for a hapless victim to come along unaware and unprepared so that he can consume them. Sounds scary? It does not have to be.
In John 10:1-18, Jesus is teaching his disciples about the work of the Shepherd and how the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and respond to it. The shepherd’s role is to protect the sheep from wolves and other dangers but the sheep must be willing to follow the shepherd. Ladies and gentleman, we are those sheep Jesus is referring to and through right relationship, we can get to know and trust our Shepherd so that he can protect us from the enemy. It is only through knowing the voice of Jesus our Good Shepherd that we will be able to escape the traps of the enemy.
I am challenging you to build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, learn to recognize his voice so that when you are tempted to go somewhere you shouldn’t go, or do something you shouldn’t do, that you would know the voice that is yelling for you not to go there, or not to do it. Unlike us, God has seen our movie before and he knows the outcome well before we do. Listen to him calling out to you; trust Him and heed His warnings because He has your very best interest in mind.