While in a video store the other day, browsing through the section of older movies, I spotted a title that I had forgotten all about - "Jewel of the Nile."  It was a sequel to another very popular movie.  Both had fun, light-hearted action story lines, and at the end of each you left the theater feeling "good" about yourself and the world in general.  For a couple of hours, the viewer could forget whatever was going on in their lives at that time - could even pretend that they were the romantic co-stars up there on the screen - looking for hidden treasure, fighting the bad men, and ending up with the hero/heroine, living happily ever after.  Every problem had been solved by the time the credits ran.

Seeing that movie on the shelf made me wonder if there would ever be another sequel.  After all, trilogies are the popular thing in movies today.  However, I soon came to my senses when I looked at the back of the video box and saw that the movie had been made almost 20 years ago.  The actors would be 20 years older.  They wouldn't look the same.  And if there is one thing the public seems to demand of their idols - they don't want them to change. 

I have since thought of those movies several times.  So many people are wanting their lives to be like those characters in the story.  They want everything to be fun and light-hearted. They want to feel "good" about themselves, and the world in general.  They want to be heroes, but they don't want to change.  So, they create, produce, and star in their own "movie."  It even has its own title: Jewel of De-nial.

Denial is very deceptive.  In fact, it is so deceptive, that people living in denial will even deny that they are in denial!  (Think about that one for a while!)  It can work for a while.  It can make you think everything is great.  It will seem like a "jewel."

But the problem with denial is that it will always come to an end.  Always.  Just like a movie, there will come a time when the credits run, but you'll find that your problems are still there.  Living in denial has not solved them.  You can no longer "act" as if everything is "happily ever after."  You've wasted all that time living in a fantasy world, and end up without having found any treasure.  Why?  Because denial is not real.  Everything is pretend - an illusion - just like in the movies.

Unfortunately, Christians can be guilty of denial as well.  There can be areas in our lives that we hold back because we don't want to change.  So we justify and excuse our habits and behaviors, and go out in the world with our "Christian faces" on, speaking "Christian-ese," convincing ourselves that we have beaten the "bad guys."  And the saddest part of all is that we have convinced ourselves that God understands, that He doesn't mind.

But God does mind.  The jewel He has planned for us - LIFE  - is real.  We do not have to hunt for it.  We do not have to struggle and fight for it.  It is ours for the asking.  His Jewel not only faces reality - it overcomes it!  It allows us to live victoriously.  We need have no fear of change, because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. 

Leave the stories to the movie stars.  Give Jesus every part of your life.  Allow Him to work the change in your heart that will bring you true happiness.  He's better than any movie will ever be!