The Book of Eli

This weekend I watched The Book of Eli for the first time. (As a side note, if you haven't seen the movie yet, don't worry--I won't fill my post with spoilers!) Generally after watching a movie, I don't leave feeling convicted (unless the conviction is for watching the movie to begin with!). However, the Book of Eli was a different story.

For those of you who haven't seen the film, here's a brief synopsis:
The main character Eli, lives in an America that has been destroyed. There was a great war and the land was scorched by the sun. There aren't many people who survived and of those who did, many of them turned to cannibalism to survive. People live off of whatever they can find and as a result society is pretty much non-existent. Eli is in possession of a "very important book," which we discover is the Bible. He feels like it is his purpose in life to survive and transport this book to a safe place. (I'll leave the rest up to you to watch.)

After watching the movie, it hit me how Eli is a representative of every Christ-follower. We have all been given an important task--to be Christ's ambassadors and carry His truth to this world. We are all carriers of His Word and light. Sure, we don't live in as dire circumstances as Eli. Or do we? Are we just as disease-ridden and desperate as people were in his time? It's probably safe to say "yes." In our culture, our disease is comfort. Our desperation comes as a result of recognizing our over-pleasuring, over-filling, and over-quenching never left us satisfied. Our needs are the same.

So, what do we do? Do we recognize the reality of our situation and choose to obediently carry this truth to a lost and dying world? Or do we sit back and think that everything's "alright?" Are we compelled to do whatever it takes to fulfill God's call and purpose? Or do we get lost in opulence and comfort, therefore, refusing to recognize the dire circumstances we are all in?

I don't know about you guys, but I want to be an Eli. I want to be resolute and focused on the task at hand. I want to be a soldier in Christ's army, carrying light, love, and Truth. I don't want to get so lost in what I "see" that I neglect to truly see what is going on around me. My hope is that I can be faithful to the commission given to me so that at the end of the journey, I can resonate with Paul's words in 1st Timothy--"I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (1 Timothy 4:7)