"Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters." - Aslan at the beginning of creation of Narnia (C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew)

I never thought a line out of children's book would impact me so much, but I cannot get the line out of head. I cannot get the thought of God speaking over the Earth--to awake, love, think and speak--out of my mind. C.S. Lewis, with his allegory of Aslan as God the Father creating the world from nothingness with just His breath and His song, made Genesis 1 that much more real to me. 

I have always believed in Creation. Even before I confessed to be a follower of Christ, I knew that God created everything around me. I may not have accepted the fact, but in my heart of hearts, if I argued for evolution as the answer, I knew I was lying to whomever I speaking to. I suppose being raised in a Catholic home and attending a Catholic school with religion classes lead to my belief in Creation, however as quickly as I stopped attending those religion classes--it was grade 5 after we had moved to Hay River, in Northwest Territories--I also stopped firmly believing in anything about God.

This isn't an issue of attending religion classes, or having a faith-based education, though. This is an issue of a God-centered home. You see, children will automatically be drawn to, and have the same views, and opinions as their parents--with the exception of very few. If, as a parent, you worship the god of sleep-in on Sundays, then your children will also. If you as a parent determine that everything else is more important than God in your life, then your children will as well.

But I have digressed too far. I was writing about the creation of Narnia and why those words were so impactful. "Awake. Love. Think. Speak." What do they mean? Why are they in that order? Why would four simple words out of a children's fantasy book open my eyes so much? Over the next four weeks I will try and attempt to answer these questions.

Awake
Before anything can be done in a day, we have to wake up. Before the sun can shine, God must command the dawn to awake. The call to awake first and foremost is quite obvious. Before we can love, think or speak, our minds have to awaken from their slumber. Our bodies have to be prepared for what they will face. The simplest place we see this is the bible is Genesis 1:3, "And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Perhaps when I read the words of Aslan, it awoke a sense within me that it was time for me to wake up from a spiritual slumber. It was Ephesians 5:14 coming to life, "Awake, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." My life wasn't in a place of deep slumber but perhaps I had hit the snooze button on God's alarm too many times. It was time to live with a greater sense of purpose, and not merely continue sleepwalking through life. 

As I continued to think on the four simple words of Aslan to, "Awake, love, think, speak." A soundtrack began to develop. At first Skillet's "Awake and Alive" came to mind. 

I'm awake I'm alive
Now I know what I believe inside
Now it's my time
I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life
here (right here), right now (right now)
I'll stand my ground and never back down
I know what I believe inside
I'm awake and I'm alive

But this wasn't the beginning, this was the culmination. The strong declaration that I'm awake and alive wasn't ready to be made yet. A different song was required. 

The bridge of Bellarive's "Shine On" then came to mind:

Wake Up O Sleeper
The Glory came through
The Glory shines through
And we're wide awake now
And we're wide awake now
And we're wide awake now

This still wasn't it though, this didn't get to the depths of what was being spoken to me. I then came across an older song by Kristian Stanfill. "Wake Up" had the breadth and depth of where I was. It was the alarm that I couldn't ignore. The lyrics resonated in my heart.

I hear Your voice in the morning light
You call my name, You're calling me to rise
I stand in You, here in Your perfect love
I lift my voice, because the word is out to rise and

Wake up
(Your life awaits)
Wake up
(Leave your wasted days)

Wake up
(Feel the rush of life)
Wake up
(Open up your eyes, wake up)

Not only was it a wake up call, but also a call to action. And the response to the call wasn't merely to wake up, it was to stand in perfect love. Standing right where we need to be to respond to the call to "Awake, love, think, speak."