I made the brave (or dumb) decision to take classes during summer quarter so I haven't spent much time reading for pleasure the last few months, but when classes ended I decided to start making it a priority. I had missed escaping into another time and place, and discovering a new world.
I went and saw the movie Divergent when it was released into theaters a while ago, and LOVED it. I recently saw the book on sale at Target, picked up a copy, and started reading. I noticed right away that there are vast differences between the book and the movie. Characters interacted differently, events occurred in a different order, seemingly important events were cut. I was fifteen chapters in and incredibly frustrated. I guess that is why everyone tells you to read the book and then see the movie. I wanted to be able to read the next books before their movie counterparts are released so I was determined to finish the book. So I took a step back, mentally separated the book from the movie, and started treating them as two different stories.
As I read further into the story, I started noticing biblical themes - particularly in the Faction manifestos - and it turns out that the author, Veronica Roth, is a follower of Christ. The whole book took on a new meaning for me. Each of the factions have a manifesto that encompasses a virtue of Christlikeness, and the book is essentially about the fall of those factions when their focus becomes more about the rules of their 'religion', and less about the principle.
This made me realize how often I get hung up on the legality of who I think I should be in Christ rather than who I actually am. More often than I care to admit, daily devotional time becomes just another thing to check off my 'To-Do' list, and less of an intimate time set aside for me to disconnect from everything else going on, and reconnect with God.
It amazes me how God uses seemingly insignificant things - like movies and books - to remind me of the importance of true intimacy with Him. Intimacy doesn't happen overnight, and is something that requires constant work, but through this series, I am reminded of how truly fulfilling and rewarding deep, authentic intimacy with Christ can be.
This made me realize how often I get hung up on the legality of who I think I should be in Christ rather than who I actually am. More often than I care to admit, daily devotional time becomes just another thing to check off my 'To-Do' list, and less of an intimate time set aside for me to disconnect from everything else going on, and reconnect with God.
It amazes me how God uses seemingly insignificant things - like movies and books - to remind me of the importance of true intimacy with Him. Intimacy doesn't happen overnight, and is something that requires constant work, but through this series, I am reminded of how truly fulfilling and rewarding deep, authentic intimacy with Christ can be.
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