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{12} Reflection

Day 12 of 31 Days. For Day 1, click on the photo above.

We have come to a turning point in our story. Everything leading up to this point was the story of Obscurity; now, we will be following the story of Jewel.

Before we do, I thought it would be good and appropriate to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve read so far. Just like I did on Day 7, I have created some questions based on the readings. You can use them for personal reflection or group discussion. If you have older children who have been reading along, this is a great opportunity to show them where this story can be found in Scripture.

Reflection Questions

1) In Day 8, the prince and Obscurity have a conversation about the difference between shame and being sorry (repentance). Have you ever thought about the difference between those two words? Read 2 Corinthians 7:8-10. Here, Paul is talking to the Corinthians about the sorrow they felt when he confronted them about their sin. What is the difference between godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world?

2) Day 9 talks about the prince’s kingdom. Why is it important that the prince’s castle can be seen by everyone in the Enchanter’s kingdom? Read Romans 1:19-20 for a clue.

3) I spend some time talking about work in Day 9. Summarize my description. Do you think your labor is important? Do you think it brings glory to God? If it doesn’t, why not? Do you wonder if your particular role is more or less important than others? Is this attitude correct? If you’re not sure, check out 1 Corinthians 12, particularly verses 20-26. Now read Ephesians 4:11-16. What does God’s Word say is the purpose for these differences among us?

4) Depending on your understanding of man in relationship to God, you may have had a hard time with Obscurity’s complete lack of redeemable qualities. I chose to make her the most vile creature the people had ever seen to highlight the fact that we can offer nothing to God in exchange for our salvation. We owe Him everything, and if we boast, it is in what He has done in and through us. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 is a great reminder of who we were before Christ, and who gets the credit for the person we are after.

5) How do you react when sinners come to church? If you see a man who obviously hasn’t taken a shower in days, or woman who looks strung out, or a gaggle of neighborhood kids who are rude and disruptive during the service, how is your heart toward them?

6) The prince’s marriage vows came from Hosea 2:19-20, Deuteronomy 31:6, and Matthew 28:20. It was important to me to include the words of Hosea because they are a love song to a harlot. Over and over again, God compares His people to a harlot because over and over again, we leave our Prince to seek out idols of our own. But God chose us, knowing who we are, and redeemed us anyway. It is an amazing story!

7) What is the importance of name? Your parents gave you a name when you were born, but what about the name inside your head? Maybe it is something good like Mommy, Artist, or Joy-filled. Or perhaps it is a name you wear with shame: Can’t-Have-Children, Chronic Spender, Lazy. One of the great promises of the Bible is that God is going to give us each a new name, one that speaks of our true identity in Him. Isaiah 62:2 is one of those promises. You can read Revelation 2:17, 3:12 as well. God already knows your name! What do you long to hear Him call you?

8) The praises of the people reach all the way to the Enchanter’s kingdom. Praise the Lord. When we praise the Lord, even in whispers, the enemy hears it in shouts, and he trembles. Psalm 150 is a very short, but very powerful reminder that we should give thanks to God in everything. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!”

9) Make an effort to remember both sides of your story today. You cannot have the Jewel without the Obscurity. Be reminded of the awesome, incomprehensible love of God toward you!

10) My prayer for us today comes from Paul, who more than anyone else in Scripture, knew how to pray for those who were once in darkness. He himself was a vile offender, the worst of sinners, a persecutor of the church, but Jesus found him and rescued him and gave him a new name. Hear what he has to say to all of us.

For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,

to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;

and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may be able to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth

and length

and height

and depth,

and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,

that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,

according to the power that works within us,

to Him be the glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.

Amen.

Ephesians 3:14 – 21

*Join us tomorrow for Day 13

{10} The Bride

Day 10 of 31 Days. Click on the photo for the beginning of the story.

“This is my bride,” the prince said.

No one said a word. Stunned silence filled the air. Somewhere in the back row, an eligible young maiden fainted.

Obscurity’s face was pale and her eyes large. Had she missed the proposal?

“Come to the town square tomorrow,” the prince said with obvious joy, “and join in my marriage celebration!”

Then he beckoned for his maids to attend to Obscurity and to his butler to prepare her quarters. His own tailor was given charge over her dress and the chefs scrambled off to prepare a feast.

Apparently, the kingdom was throwing a wedding, and there wasn’t a moment to waste.

The next day, the town square was packed. Who would miss it? Their beloved prince was planning to marry some homeless woman he’d found in a ditch on the way home from work. It was the most horrific thing that had ever happened in that kingdom. Ever. It had to be some kind of joke, the people reasoned. It couldn’t be real.

But what if it was? What if their beloved prince was going to marry one of the enemy? And not just any enemy, but the most vile enemy any of them had ever laid eyes on.

It wasn’t a joke. At precisely 10 am, the prince stepped out onto the balcony of the castle with his bride on his arm. An audible gasp rose from the crowd.

Obscurity was completely unrecognizable.

She didn’t look anything like the creature they had seen the day before. In fact, she looked like an entirely new person. The mud and matted hair were gone. The filth and stench of the Enchanter’s kingdom had been washed away.

Now, she was dressed in the most dazzling white gown. Her hair was done up with flowers, and pure joy shone in her eyes. Obscurity looked every bit like a princess fit to marry their beloved prince. She was radiant.

The crowd erupted in applause. The prince had performed a miracle right in front of their eyes.

Everyone began talking at once. They looked and pointed and marveled at the bride. Could it be the same woman?

The prince and his bride stood before the people, who struggled to gain some sense of respectful composure after the shocking surprise. He raised his hands to quiet them.

It was time for the marriage ceremony to begin.

The prince turned to Obscurity, and the people waited for her to say her vows. But Obscurity had nothing to say. What could she give to a prince? Nothing, not even a promise.

The prince knew his bride had nothing to offer. So he took her hands in his and spoke vows that were strong enough for both of them. They were the covenant promises only he could keep.

“I will betroth you to me forever,” he said, quoting the ancient scrolls the people knew and loved.

“I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice,

in loving-kindness and in compassion.

I will betroth you to me in faithfulness.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

I will be with you always,

Even to the very end of the earth.”

Then he slipped a ring on her finger as a seal of his love and a promise of even greater things to come, saying, “Now, you are no longer an alien or an enemy. You are a fellow citizen, along with all these saints, and you belong to me.”

Every eye glistened. Even the old castle guard wiped a stray tear from his cheek.

“There’s just one more thing,” the prince said, taking hold of her hands once again. “You will no longer be called Obscurity, for that is not the name I chose for you. It is not who you are, nor who you were meant to be.”

Obscurity felt her throat close tight. Up until that moment, she had not realized how much she longed to shed the name that had followed her all her life. It was a name that reminded her that she had been born in enemy land. It spoke of her worthlessness. She was forgotten, unlovely, and unworthy.

The prince looked into her eyes, and Obscurity shrunk a little. She wondered if she really wanted to hear her new name because she was not long changed from who she once was.

The prince smiled. “You are my treasure, my bride. You are my jewel. That is who you are, and that is your true name.”

Jewel. It was not the name she expected and it was not a name she deserved. Tears streamed down her face. Obscurity was dead, and a Jewel stood in her place.

{9} The Prince’s Kingdom

From Enemy to Heir: Day 9 of 31 Days

Click on the photo above for Day 1

The prince opened the gates to his kingdom and Obscurity walked in behind him without a moment’s hesitation. All her questions and doubts had been erased by the kind instruction of the prince.

But she was completely unprepared for the scene on the other side of the gates.

From afar, the prince’s kingdom looked pure white. His castle sat up on a hill where it shimmered like a diamond. No matter where you were in the Enchanter’s land, you could see it, if you wanted to.

When she was younger, Obscurity had often gazed upon that castle and thought about how very boring it would be to live in a world where everything was white.

Now that she was there, she could see that the kingdom was not white at all. It was radiant with a myriad of brilliant, pure colors. Some of the hues she had never seen before, but every inch of earth or sky shimmered with them. It was like stepping into a magnificent gem, and Obscurity could not make her eyes wide enough to grasp the wonder. She thought she could look on it forever and never see enough.

It was midday then, and the town was bustling with the affairs of the day. Everywhere, people were hard at work, although it hardly looked like work to Obscurity because every person seemed to be doing the exact thing he or she most enjoyed doing. Here a person painted pictures, there a person swept floors, one taught little children, and another layered mortar between bricks.

But all worked to the best of their ability, so if she had to choose, Obscurity would not have been able to tell whose job was the most important. More intriguing still was the fact that she could sense no struggle between the roles. There was no abuse of power or lazy workmanship, there were no angry threats or insolent remarks.

Instead, the air was filled with a sense of mutual respect and cooperation and a delight in being able to do what one was made to do in the kingdom of the prince they loved.

The prince, who stood beside her, watched it all with a look of pleased satisfaction. Obscurity noticed that he looked more radiant than ever as his people went about the humble duties of their daily lives.

Obscurity, who had never had a skill or talent of any kind, suddenly wished she had something to do that was as good and satisfying as their labor seemed to be to themselves and to each other. When she saw how much it pleased the prince to see his people creating, building, and ruling like princes themselves, she wanted nothing more than to be a part of it.

But she didn’t have much time to think about it because suddenly, someone looked up and noticed the prince had returned. Immediately, he was surrounded, and she with him. They greeted him with kisses. One took his horse and one took his cloak and everyone was asking about the cuts on his face and the mud on his clothes.

That’s when they noticed her.

And everything got quiet.

It was not entirely uncommon for the prince to bring an enemy into the gates. Old people and children followed him wherever he went. Those kinds of enemies had not been taught to hate him, or they were too old to fight, and the Enchanter’s power was lessened on those who believed enough to be hopeful, and on those who had seen enough to be hopeless.

But this was unusual. Very rarely did the prince open the gate for someone in the prime of her life. Very rarely did he rescue someone so obviously entrenched in the Enchanter’s lies.

Entrenched was just the word for Obscurity. She looked like she had come right out of the sewers. Her hair was matted and she reeked of waste and it was apparent from her clothes that she was one of those kinds of women.

Obscurity was now aware of her own wretched state, but the prince’s people were unprepared for the level of depravity they saw in her. It was shocking. She was by far the filthiest person they had ever seen. Whispers skittered around the back row.

Obscurity felt her face flush and her heart fall. She realized these people were not perfect like the prince. When she had first seen them, they seemed so different from her own people that she could not imagine a single flaw in any of them.

Yet, there remained in them some ability to make assumptions and draw conclusions. There remained in them some need of rescuing, and Obscurity wondered if they could see their own muddy feet when they were staring at hers.

One of the men stepped forward from the throng.

“Would you like me to take your prisoner, Sir?” he asked with a gleam in his eye. His job as master of the guard was remarkably dull in the prince’s kingdom, and he looked forward to having at least one of his jail cells full.

“Prisoner?” the prince responded in surprise. “This woman is not a prisoner.”

Waves of whispers washed over the crowd.

“Shall I prepare the…uh…guest room, then?” asked the head butler, who was already wondering how he was going to get the linens clean after that woman left.

“No, she’s not a guest!” the prince said.

The crowd was silent. No one could think of a third option.

“My dear people,” the prince said, extending his hand to draw Obscurity to his side. “This woman is my bride.”

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