A constant reminder that God is everywhere and in every tiny second of our lives. Yesterday, I went with a group of friends to the $2.00 movie theatre in town. What can I say we're all cheap, I didn't even pay for my own ticket... that's how cheap I am lol. We went to see a film called "Megamind". Truth is before this day I hadn't heard much about the film other than a few trailers that I may have watched out of the corner of my eye. I hate to give the plot away, but the story is about a super-villian who assumingly destroys the super-hero who was always there to save the day. The villain, Megamind, discovers that at the loss of his arch nemisis, the Hero is really what gave his life of evil... how do you say... purpose.
Clip of dialogue from "Megamind":
Minion:
"Create a hero? Why would you do that? "
Megamind:
Minion, I'm a villain without a hero, a yin with no a yang, a bullfighter with no bull to fight! In other words, I have no purpose!
Long story short, Megamind goes out of his way to try and find a way to restore a Hero into his run-down town, but when his replacement Hero decides he doesn't want to be a hero... instead he'd rather play the villain! Megamind must make a choice...walk away, or... dare I say it... become a hero himself.
The film was cute and funny, but what was surprising most was what happened after the film. I was walking out of the theatre with my group of friends talking to my friend Hannah. She must get entire credit for this inspiration.
I said, "I think it's interesting that after Megamind saved the day, everyone sort of forgot about all the bad things he'd done before... you know when he was supposed to still be the villain."
Hannah nodded in agreement, but then surprised me by saying, "Yeah, but I guess it's kind of like what it says in the bible about a man who does a lifetime of evil will never be remembered, while a man who does one righteous act will be remembered and respected...or something like that."
"The Bible says that?" I asked. It was an interesting thought... so of course I scavanged through the Bible to discover this verse Hannah had told me about. The verse is found in Ezekiel. It's a mouthful, but worth the read. I bolded in yellow the important passages...
Ezekiel 33:10-20
"Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?" ' Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?' "Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.' If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right-- if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live. "Yet your countrymen say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But it is their way that is not just. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so. Yet, O house of Israel, you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But I will judge each of you according to his own ways."
What can I say about this. Our God may be a God of judgment and wrath, but in that judgment and wrath... Christ provided us REDEMTION AND MERCY.
Don't EVER give up.