Once Upon A Time

Have you watched the TV series called Once Upon a Time?  It's about storybook characters that have a curse upon them, and they have been transplanted from their happily-ever-after land to the current day world in a town in Maine called Storybrooke.  A loophole in the curse was that the baby daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming was transported to the new land before the curse hit everyone. When she turned 28 yrs. old, she would come to Storybrooke and save everyone from the curse.  No one in Storybrooke could leave, and most of them had no memory of the former life.  Time stood still for 28 yrs, so none of them aged.

Emma, now the 28 yr. old daughter who was to save them had one little problem - a lack of faith to believe what was written in the storybook, that all the people in the town were once beloved storybook characters in another land or parallel universe.  The evil queen who put the curse on everyone knew love once, but because her heart was broken, it was her life's mission to ruin everyone else's happily ever afters, especially Snow White's.  What she couldn't see was that ruining everyone else's happiness did not really create happiness for herself. 

She was the mayor in this parallel world, and knew everything about everyone, and how to make life miserable for them.  Her adopted son, who was actually Emma's birth son (and Snow White and Prince Charming's grandson), read the storybook, so knew how everything fit together, and how the town could be saved from the curse.  As Emma started intervening in the town and became the sherriff, things started to change and the curse started to weaken, and memories started to come back, as well as happiness.  The boy had great faith in what was written in the book, as it related to what he could clearly see in the people and the world around him. Emma, however, could not see past the here and now, the cold, harshness of reality. One of the greatest challenges was to get Emma to see what was right in front of her with eyes of faith, but she chose to disbelieve.  The truth could be right in front of her face, and yet she refused to see it.

This reminds me of this present world.  This world is not our true home, the Bible says, but we are strangers and foreigners. 1 Peter 2:11: "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."  

The Bible tells of a rich man who died.  He asked Abraham to send someone back to the earth to warn his family about hell, because surely if someone came back from the dead to tell them about it, they would believe and could avoid that eternal place of torment.  However, Abraham told a very sad truth in Luke 16:29-31:

²⁹ Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

³⁰ And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

³¹ And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Some agnostics say that the existence of God cannot be proven, cannot be known.  However, according to Romans 1, God is not hiding!  He is not only seen, but He is clearly understood, to the point that no one is without excuse when it comes to answering to God!

Romans 1:18-20:  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

¹⁹ Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

²⁰ For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Are you like Emma?  Are you going through life thinking that this is all there is?  Or will you look at the Bible and see what God has left for us, an instruction book that teaches us all wisdom and godliness, so that we can live a life on the right path, full of love and happiness?  It really doesn't take much faith to look around you and see the wonderful home God has given us, and how active He is in the lives of those who will trust in Him.  Yes, this world is under the curse of sin, but praise God our Savior has come!  He knew why He came, and He knew His purpose and plan, and fulfilled the prophecies that spoke of His coming.  He took the curse upon Himself so we can live eternally and not go to a place of eternal torment. 

If you have not known Jesus, please open God's Word (because faith comes by hearing God's Word), open your eyes, and then open your heart to Him.  Your life will never be the same again after you've had that aha! moment!  Glory be to God!  May you live happily ever after in God's kingdom, saved from the curse and freed to love and live forevermore where there is no more death, no more pain, no more suffering, and no more sin.